A Million Little Things
by GreatPretending
Summary: Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson met on a field trip in kindergarten. What new adventures will this friendship lead to? One chapter for each school year. Eventual Klaine, because Klaine is the best.
1. Kindergarten

Kurt Hummel, age five, stood nervously in the back of the room. Ms. Janet's class was going on a field trip to the butterfly garden with Mrs. Reed's class today. Both groups were squished into one room while the two teachers and other parent volunteers went over the itinerary again. Kurt fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, feeling awkward while all of the other kids laughed and played together.

"Okay, kids!" Ms. Janet finally called, quieting the children with her seemingly magic powers. "Everyone find a buddy!"

The small boy continued to stand in the back while all of the other kids chose partners. Kurt didn't have any friends going on the trip. His best friend, Mercedes, was sick and couldn't come. Kurt watched as everyone linked arms and hands, all smiles and laughter.

Just then, Dave walked by, shoving Kurt's shoulder and blowing a raspberry at him. Kurt wiped the saliva off his cheek with his sleeve and resisted the urge to cry. Why was Dave so _mean_? Kurt never did anything to him.

"Hey!" someone called. Kurt turned his head towards the voice, and found a boy who was just a little shorter than him, with curly black hair, green eyes, and a toothy smile. He was wearing a Harry Potter T-shirt. "Want to be buddies?" he asked. "I'm in Mrs. Reed's class."

"S-sure," Kurt said, a little surprised that someone had asked him.

"Cool. I'm Blaine," the boy said, still smiling. The shorter boy held out his arm.

"I'm Kurt," the shy boy smiled, linking his arm through the other's.

"Does everyone have a buddy?" Ms. Janet asked the large group. Which was answered with a chorused 'Yes!'

"Then let's get on the bus!"

Twenty minutes later, forty-two children sat side-by-side in two big, yellow buses. Each head was counted and recounted, then they were on their way.

"Who wants to sing a song?" one girl, Rachel, shouted above all of the noise. Before they knew it, a large rendition of 'The Wheels on the Bus' had begun. Kurt sung along quietly, leaning against the window and looking down at his knees. He was starting to feel shy again, so he stopped. Rachel had such a pretty voice; Kurt felt inadequate.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Blaine questioned from next to him. "You're a good singer." Kurt blushed.

"Thanks," he mumbled, joining the song again.

XOXOX

Arriving at the butterfly garden, the group grabbed their sack lunches and ran excitedly into the building to escape the frigid, early-spring air. Each child got a bright yellow sticker to place on their backs, that said 'Lima Elementary Field Trip.' Kurt eyed the sticker skeptically.

"Want me to help you?" Blaine offered, holding his hand out.

"It's going to clash with my shirt," the other boy pondered. "Not to mention what it will do to the fabric..."

"That's why you're not supposed to wear silk when you go on a field trip," Blaine said, turning Kurt around to stick the yellow rectangle onto his back.

"How'd you know it was silk?" Kurt asked, surprised.

"My mom makes clothes. She yelled at me once for getting a sucker stuck to a silk dress," Blaine explained.

"Alright, kids! Come over here and make a circle!" Ms. Janet called, and the boys hurried over. "We're going to divide you into groups, and each group goes with a grown up. Each group has to answer ten questions by lunchtime. Okay?"

Kurt and Blaine ended up in a group with Wes and David, and Santana and Brittany.

"Cool! We're in the same group, Blaine!" Wes shouted, holding his hand up for a high-five that Blaine returned.

"Alright guys," David's mom—their chaperone—said to them. "Let's move out!"

The next few hours consisted of 'what do you see?'s and 'is that a butterfly or a moth?'s. It was all smiles and giggles for a long time. Kurt was surprised again when Blaine picked Kurt up so that he could reach the water in the waterfall.

He was in the middle of admiring a big, blue butterfly—a Common Morpho, the book said—when he ran into Dave again. Well, more like Dave ran into _him_. Kurt was pushed over into the garden, landing face-first in the dirt, and scraping up his ankles on the brick that outlined the garden.

"Hey!" he heard Blaine's voice call. Kurt pulled himself up and turned to see the smaller boy yelling at Dave. "Say you're sorry!"

"No!" Dave laughed, and continued walking away with his friend.

Blaine looked down at Kurt, who was sitting on the pathway now, and sat down next to him. "Hey, are you okay?" Kurt nodded stiffly as he tried to fight back tears. He didn't want to cry in front of his new friend. "You're bleeding!"

The shorter boy lifted up the leg of Kurt's pants to reveal a big red scrape, trickling with blood.

"Mrs. Johnson!' Blaine called to their chaperone, who was looking at a group of butterflies not too far from them. She turned around.

"What is i—Oh my goodness!" David's mother rushed over to them, kneeling down to look at Kurt's ankle. "What happened?"

"Dave pushed him down! I saw him do it!" Blaine told her. A tear slipped down from Kurt's eye while Mrs. Johnson fiddled with Neo-To-Go and band-aids.

"I'll talk to Ms. Janet at lunchtime, okay?" she said, smoothing the last bandage into place. Kurt nodded and wiped his eyes, and she reached back into her bag again. "Here," she handed him a grape lollipop. "This will make you feel better." Kurt reached out and took the sucker.

"Thank you, Mrs. Johnson," he said with a sniffle.

"You're very welcome. And here's one for you, Blaine, you've been a very good buddy to Kurt today." She handed Blaine a cherry one.

"Thank you!" Blaine said. Mrs. Johnson stood up.

"Okay, you two, it's only twenty minutes until lunch and we've still got three questions to answer!"

While David's mom moved away to hunt down the others, Blaine looked over to Kurt again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, pulling the wrapper off of his lollipop. Kurt nodded and wiped his eyes again.

"I'm okay," Kurt said, then sighed and looked down at his clothes. "But my shirt is _ruined_."

Right then, the Common Morpho that Kurt had taken a liking to earlier flew right up to his face, and landed on his nose. Kurt froze and crossed his eyes in attempt to look at the butterfly.

"Whoa," Blaine said, awestruck. "Don't move."

"No way!" the boys heard David call. "Look! A butterfly landed on Kurt!"

"Cool!"

"Let me see!"

'_Maybe_,' Kurt thought. '_Today isn't so bad._'

XOXOX

Before lunch, Blaine went into the bathroom with Kurt to help him get the dirt off his face. When Kurt's face was all clean again, they were headed out to the courtyard for a picnic. They sat with their group at a table, pulling sandwiches and juice boxes out of brown paper bags. Kurt was having a wonderful time. Despite the mishap with Dave earlier, everything was going wonderfully, even if Mercedes wasn't there. Plus, David and Wes were really funny. They took Davids animal crackers and made them eat each other, complete with sound-effects and breaking off pieces of them.

Kurt had just reached into his bag of Newman O's (because Oreos aren't organic) when things took another spill. Suddenly, the bag was snatched from the table, and the cookies were disappearing into Dave's mouth.

"Those are Kurt's cookies!" Brittany yelled to Dave, who's face was covered in black crumbs. "That wasn't nice!"

"Ms. Janet! Ms. Janet!" Santana ran over to their teacher.

"What's going on?" Ms. Janet allowed Santana to tug her over to the group's table by her sleeve. Dave tried to hide the cookie bag behind his back.

"Dave stole Kurt's cookies and ate them all!" Wes told the teacher, pointing a finger at the accused.

"Is that true, Kurt?"

Kurt looked at his feet and nodded.

"Dave?" The bully swallowed loudly before answering.

"I didn't mean to!"

"Why don't you come with me, Dave?" Ms. Janet ushered the boy over to the grown-ups table.

Kurt sat in silence for a few minutes while the other kids returned to their games after a few remarks on how mean Dave was. Kurt was feeling shy again. Why did Dave always pick on him? Kurt had never even said a word to the boy.

"Do you want one of my pop tarts?" Blaine asked quietly, offering him a pastry. Kurt smiled at him.

"Thanks," he said, happiness filling him once more.

XOXOX

When Kurt's dad picked him up that day, he was still waving to Blaine through the window as they pulled away from the school.

"How was the field trip, Kiddo?" Burt Hummel asked his son as he leaned back to sit in his booster seat properly.

"It was awesome, Daddy," Kurt said excitedly. "I made a new friend today!"

The small boy proceeded to tell his father all about Blaine, Wes and David and their animal crackers, and the butterfly that landed on his nose. Burt couldn't help but smile at his animated tone, which was usually saved for watching the Disney Princess movies. He also couldn't help but notice all of the dirt on his son's usually pristine clothes.

"Oh, I-I just tripped and fell," Kurt said when he'd brought it up.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

* * *

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	2. First Grade

**AN:** _Before I send you off to the story, I'd like to say that I was a little reluctant to continue this story. Although I've received nothing but kind words for the first chapter, some stuff really got to me this past few days that put me pretty down in the dumps when it comes to this. I really do enjoy writing little!Kurt and little!Blaine, but... it's kind of complicated. :/ So please bare with me if I take a while to update._

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Glee._

* * *

The first day of first grade found Kurt stepping anxiously into his classroom. He didn't know who else was in the class. The six year-old gripped the strap of his tan, leather messenger bag—he'd picked it out himself—and looked around.

"Kurt!" Kurt's head swiveled to find the voice, and his eyes landed on Blaine, who was waving to him, school supplies spread all over his desk. "Come sit with me!"

The fashionable boy smiled widely and skipped over to his friend.

"Hey, Blaine!" he said, putting his bag on the chair at the desk he'd selected.

"I didn't know you were in this class!" Blaine said excitedly, moving his crayon box from his dinosaur backpack to his desk.

"Me neither!"

The two boys sat at their desks and talked animatedly about their summer vacations—Blaine had gone to _France—_for a few minutes before the bell rang. Other students continued to file into the classroom, some on their own, others in pairs. Soon, all of the desks were filled, except for the one to the left of Kurt. That was when the last child to arrive entered the room: Dave Karofsky.

Kurt hadn't noticed though, because Blaine was telling him all about the Eiffel Tower, and how it did really light up at night, and how you could see a million stars in the sky.

"It was really pretty. We even saw a _shooting_ star one night!" Blaine was saying, arms flying with his excitement.

"That sounds amazing," Kurt sighed, his head resting in his chin as he imagined the scene Blaine had laid out for him.

"Maybe next time you can come with me!" Blaine smiled wider, and Kurt smiled back.

Kurt finally noticed Dave as he sat down next to him, pointedly ignoring the smaller boy. Kurt's eyes widened to the point where he was afraid they might fall out of his head. No, he couldn't sit by _Dave_. Not the kid who'd picked on him all of last year! It was bad enough just to be in the same _class_ as him again!

"Hey, Kurt!" Blaine was whispering, tugging on the taller boy's sleeve. Kurt turned his head towards his friend, a little afraid to not be able to see what Dave was doing behind him. "Isn't that the kid who pushed you over at the butterfly garden last year?" Kurt nodded, and Blaine looked at him for a moment.

"Are you scared?" he whispered again.

"A little," Kurt admitted, sure to be quiet enough so that only Blaine could hear. He bit his lower lip.

"Hey," Blaine said, taking his hand. "It'll be okay."

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled, a little surprised at the gesture. He'd never had anyone besides his mom and dad hold his hand before.

"Okay, class!" Mrs. Harris said, standing at the front of the room, a stack of note cards in hand. "I hope you all brought your crayons, because your first assignment is to write your name on one of these cards to be a name tag for your desk," she held up the note cards, then began passing them out. "I want you guys to be as creative as you can. Try and use every color in the box."

Kurt reached into his desk and pulled out his box of crayons, stealing a glance at Dave as he did the same.

"Thank you, Mrs. Harris," Blaine said as he was handed his note card, sending her the most charming smile she'd ever seen on a six year-old's face.

"You're very welcome, Blaine," she replied as she moved onto Kurt.

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled as she placed the card on his desk, earning himself a pat on the head. Startled, Kurt's hands flew up to his head to make sure every hair was in place.

"What color are you going to make your name, Kurt?" Blaine asked him, poking his tongue out of his mouth as he concentrated on a blue 'B.'

"Uhm..." Kurt looked at his selection of fourteen crayons. "My name is going to be red, but the rest of it's going to be blue, with yellow on the outside," he said, beginning on his name tag intently. His eyebrows knitted together as he worked, doing his best to get every swirl swirly enough and every line straight enough. He practically forgot about the rest of the class, including Dave, as he twisted his wrist this way and that to make the R in his name _just right_.

When he was done, he sat back a little and appraised his work. His first name was written in large, curly-Q letters, and there was a swirly yellow border around the whole card, all enveloped in a sea of blue.

"_Wow_, Kurt," Blaine said in awe. "That's totally awesome."

"Thanks," Kurt said shyly and raised his hand, indicating that his card was ready to be taped to his desk.

What Kurt didn't see, however, was the way Dave looked over at his note card with wide, appreciative eyes that quickly turned into those of jealousy and frustration before he turned back to his own card. The green 'Dave' suddenly seemed inadequate.

XOXOX

Kurt decided that recess was his favorite part of the day. Mrs. Harris' class had recess with Ms. Westerman's class, which Mercedes was in.

"Mercedes!" he called to the girl when he saw her on the monkey bars. He ran over to her excitedly, tackling her with a hug.

"Hi, Kurt!" she hugged him back happily.

"I missed you today!"

"I missed you, too!" The two first-graders continued to talk and play, happy to see each other again.

Then, as Kurt was leaning over to grab the closest bar, Dave crossed the platform on the play equipment and 'bumped into' Kurt, effectively pushing him over into the sand. Dave continued walking with a mean smile while Kurt lifted himself off the ground, spitting out the surely germ-infested sand. His eyes began to tear up and he rubbed at them with his sleeve, which only made it worse.

"Kurt, are you okay?" he looked up to see Blaine leaning over him.

"Y-yeah," Kurt sniffled.

"We should go tell a teacher," Mercedes said, climbing down from the play equipment.

"Yeah," Blaine said, offering his hand out to Kurt, who allowed the other to help him to his feet. "C'mon, Kurt. Dave's just a big meanie, anyways."

XOXOX

At the end of the day, Kurt's class was packing up their folders and All-About-Me books when Blaine turned to him.

"Hey, Kurt, you should come over to my house this weekend," he said, pulling his backpack over his shoulders. "We can watch _Aladdin_ and my mom might let us make cookies and I have this totally awesome tree house in my backyard and..." Kurt listened as the other boy rambled on about all of the things they could do that weekend while they walked out of the building to wait for their cars. The boys continued to chat about parents and pets until Blaine's mom arrived to pick him up.

"Bye, Blaine!" Kurt waved after him as the smaller boy disappeared into the backseat of his car.

Kurt stood on the lowest step by the doors, a smile on his face while he waited patiently for his dad to arrive. Dave walked by and knocked Kurt's bag off of his shoulder, pencils and markers spilling everywhere. In his attempt to catch these, Kurt ended up tripping over his shoelaces. He fell over for the second time that day, landing on his hands and knees. His palms were scraped up, but not quite bleeding, and when Kurt looked up, Dave had disappeared.

Noticing his dad's car pull around the corner, Kurt hurried to pick up his things and put them back in his bag before running over to his ride. Opening the door and climbing into his booster seat, Kurt was surprised to find both his mom and his dad in the front.

"Hey, baby!" Elizabeth Hummel said to her son. "How was your first day at school?"

Kurt told his parent's all about being in the same class as Blaine and seeing Mercedes at recess. He told them about the name tag he made for his desk and showed them his All-About-Me book. He told them about how Mrs. Harris let him be the line-leader when they went to the cafeteria for lunch and about Blaine's adventures in France.

"You must have had fun at recess," his mother commented. "It's been a long time since I saw you so dirty."

"Oh," Kurt mumbled, looking down at his clothes. "I slipped and fell off the monkey bars and landed in the sand."

"Are you alright?" Burt asked him, stealing a glance at his son in the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

* * *

_*cough* does anyone notice a pattern? 'Cause I sure do._

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	3. Second Grade

**AN: **_This chapter is dedicated to Beautifulwhatsyourhurry, Squid7000, and Sparky Dorian (Your courage comment made me smile so wide I thought my face was about to split in half). You guys helped me continue doing something I love, though you have no idea who I even am, that means the world to me.  
Everything that was has been cleared up. Everything is better now. SydSyd is happy once more. Thank you all so much, and I hope you enjoy this chapter._

**Disclaimer: **_No, I still don't own Glee._

* * *

Kurt Hummel was seven years old, a second grader at Lima Elementary, and he'd been waiting for this day for _weeks_. Two weeks, to be exact. What made today so special? Well, being early June, Mr. Farely—the gym teacher—organized the annual Fun and Funky Field Day.

Fun and Funky Field Day was the best day of the year by far. You only had to go to class at the beginning and end of the day, and the rest of the time you got to run around with your partner outside and play games. Then at lunch, there were hotdogs, chips, ice cream, and chocolate milk. Normally, Kurt would never eat hotdogs and chips, but today was Fun and Funky Field Day. There was something about the day that made Kurt want to do everything he'd never dreamed of doing before.

That's another reason why Kurt was wearing a T-shirt to school today. Kurt hated wearing simple things like his khaki shorts and _Wicked_ T-shirt to school, he preferred his silk button-downs or his sweaters, but on Fun and Funky Field Day, he couldn't risk getting them ruined. There would be a _lot_ of playing today. Plus, Kurt was going over to Blaine's house after dinner tonight. Kurt loved going to Blaine's house. It was really big, and there was _so_ much stuff to do!

Eager to get the day going, Kurt ran upstairs and nearly tackled his dad in the kitchen.

"Daddy! Daddy, we have to go! It's Fun and Funky Field Day!"

"Whoa," Burt said, being careful not to spill his coffee as the small body rammed into him. "Calm down, kiddo, you haven't even eaten breakfast yet!"

With the energy that only a child could have in the morning, Kurt ran over to the cereal cupboard and pulled out the Honey-Nut Cheerios. Setting the box on the kitchen table, the small boy dragged a chair over to the counter and climbed on, using it as a stepping stool to reach his favorite blue cereal bowl. He climbed down from the chair and set the bowl on it, then dashed over to the silverware drawer to grab a spoon. Dropping that in the bowl, Kurt lugged the milk carton out of the fridge and set that on the chair, too.

Burt smiled into his coffee cup as he watched his son push the full chair over to the table, and start preparing his own breakfast. It was something he decided to start doing at some point last year, when he'd come home from a sleepover at Blaine's house.

When Kurt was beginning to struggle with the nearly-full milk carton, his mom appeared behind him and swooped it from his failing grasp, pouring it onto his cereal for him.

"Thanks, mommy," Kurt tilted his chin up to smile at her.

"You're welcome, baby," Elizabeth placed a kiss on his hair before moving to replace the milk in the fridge.

Kurt ate his cereal quickly and carefully, not wanting to spill anything, while his parents watched him with smiles. When he finished, Kurt stood up on his tip-toes to drop the bowl in the sink. Grabbing his bag from the living room, he ran back into the kitchen.

"Come _on_, Dad!" he said, pulling on his father's hand. Burt chuckled.

"You go out to the car, and I'll be out in just a minute, alright? It's unlocked."

"Okay! Bye, Momma!" Kurt hugged and kissed his mother before sprinting out the door.

"Bye, baby, have fun at school!" Elizabeth continued smiling until her son was out of sight, then she slumped back against the counter, exhaustion making itself known in her eyes. "When are we going to tell him?" she questioned her husband, who put an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm not sure yet."

"Burt... Burt, what if I don't make it?" her eyes filled with tears, she pressed her face into her husband's shirt.

"Shhh... Don't think about that right now. Just go try to get some more sleep."

"_Daaaaaad_! We're gonna be late!"

XOXOX

By lunchtime, Kurt and Blaine had gotten through more than half of the games. They knew from experience that you _had_ to start with the Giant Ball, because it was the best, and if you waited, the line would stretch on _forever_. When you played the Giant Ball game, you literally tried to balance on a ball that was five feet tall. If you stayed on longer than thirty seconds, Mr. Farley would start kicking the ball in attempts to get you to fall off. Kurt lasted for twenty five seconds. Blaine lasted for forty.

They spent the rest of the day playing other games like the Spear-Chucker Challenge and Tricycle Race. Kurt was extremely happy that he never had a run-in with Dave, who although in another class this year, still picked on him at recess sometimes, and who would also be out playing games.

Later, when Kurt got home, his mom helped him pack his bag for Blaine's house that night. Kurt spoke excitedly about getting wet during one of the games, and how he taught Blaine how to eat his hotdog without getting ketchup all over his face. At one point, Mrs. Hummel sat down on her son's bed and yawned. Kurt stopped mid sentence and looked at his mommy. He crawled up onto the bed with her and curled into her side.

"Are you okay, Momma?" he asked, voice sweet as sugar. "You're not usually tired before dinnertime."

'_How observant_,' Elizabeth smiled proudly down at her son. "I just didn't sleep very well last night," she said aloud.

"Did you have a bad dream? I can sleep with you if you want, the way you do for me when I have a bad dream." Tears welled in Elizabeth's eyes.

"No, it wasn't a bad dream," she said quietly, her voice cracking a little. She pulled her son into her lap and held him close.

"Then what was it, Momma?" Kurt actually reached up and brushed one of her tears away. Kurt never knew mommies cried, too.

"Burt?" Kurt's mom rose her voice to carry down the hall. Kurt was confused. Why was she calling for Daddy?

"Yeah?"

"Would you come in here please?"

Elizabeth scooted back on the bed and pressed a kiss to the top of her sons head before setting him down on the mattress in front of her. Kurt placed his hands on the sheets, balancing himself as the mattress wiggled, still utterly confused.

"What do you need?" Burt's head poked through the door.

"I think we need to tell him," his wife replied, looking up. Burt surveyed the scene for a moment, looking back and forth between his son and his wife.

"Are you sure now's a good time?" he asked, worried about how his son would take it.

"I think if we put it off any longer it's just going to make things worse," Elizabeth told him.

"But what if—"

"I want to know," a small voice cut in, and both adults looked to their son, who was looking down at his hands in his lap. They looked at each other again, Mrs. Hummel with a pleading expression, and Burt nodded. He joined the pair on the bed, and Kurt looked up.

"Kurt," his father began slowly. "Do you know what cancer is?"

XOXOX

Later that evening, Kurt and Blaine were sitting in Blaine's tree house, reading books and coloring and talking, when Blaine noticed Kurt was staring out the little window. The smaller boy tilted his curly head to the side, wondering what could get his friend so lost in thought. Kurt had his chin in his hand with his elbow on the table, just looking at the sky. His picture of Cinderella and the Prince was only half finished.

'_I want to find a prince like him someday_,' Kurt had told him once.

'_Me too_.'

"Hey Kurt?" Blaine asked, but didn't get a response. "Kuuuurt." Blaine waved a hand in front of his friends face, finally catching his attention.

"H-what?" The taller boy asked, shaking his head a little.

"Are you okay? You've been really quiet all day," Blaine said, looking a little worried.

"Yeah, I just... I was just thinking about something my mom and dad told me before I came over," Kurt said quietly looking down at his hands.

"What'd they say?"

Kurt looked at the smaller boy, seeing confusion in his eyes. Kurt couldn't help but think that that's probably how he had looked to his parents earlier. He hadn't been planning on telling anyone, but he could tell Blaine, right? Blaine could keep a secret. Kurt bit his lip and looked down again.

"Do you know what cancer is?" He asked the other, mimicking his father's words from earlier.

"Not really. I hear it's real bad though. That people die from it," Blaine said, still confused. Kurt's eyes started to water, and he nodded.

"My... my parents told m-me that my mom has b-breast cancer," Kurt told him. Kurt didn't really understand it yet, but he did know that it was really, really bad. A tear slid down his nose and landed on Cinderella's lass slipper. Kurt wished his fairy godmother would appear and fix everything.

"Does that mean she..." Blaine trailed off, his green eyes wide with shock.

"She m-might," Kurt replied, wiping his eyes. "They don't kn-know." Kurt began to cry harder then. He was just as quiet, but the tears were flowing at a more rapid pace, his whole body shaking. His mommy couldn't leave him. She just _couldn't_. Kurt _needed_ his mommy.

"Hey," Kurt felt Blaine's arms wrap around him and he froze, unsure of what to do. "Do you want a Redvine?"

"What are those?" Kurt sniffled.

"Redvines are my favorite candy. Whenever I get sad, my dad gives me one. They're so yummy that you forget why you were sad in the first place!" Blaine smiled, taking the taller boy's hand.

"That sounds nice," Kurt said, allowing himself to be towed from the tree house.

XOXOX

When Kurt and Blaine were all tucked in bed, Blaine's mom came into the room, phone in hand.

"Kurt, sweetie? You're dad's on the phone," she said. Kurt pulled his hands out from under the covers and reached out for it.

"Hi, Daddy," he said softly.

"Hey, buddy. Are you having fun at Blaine's?"

"Mm hmm," Kurt replied, nodding sleepily although his dad couldn't see.

"Alright, I was just calling to check up on you. I know you got some really big news today," his father said, concern thick in his voice. "Are you feeling okay? If you want me to come get you, I will."

"It's okay Daddy, you don't have to."

"You sure, buddy?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

* * *

_D'aww. I wanna hug Kurt. Also, if you have a tumblr, go follow me! (sydnimaxine) I'll follow you back!_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	4. Third Grade

**AN:** _I'd like to apologize for how long it took me to post this. I meant to do it a few days ago, but for some reason this chapter was extremely difficult for me to write, not to mention the distractions of Tumblr. (Go follow me! :D sydnimaxine) Anyway, thanks for your patience and all of your kind words!_

* * *

The next year found Kurt sitting on his bed after school one late November Friday. He was completely confused.

"She's gone, Kurt," his father said, tears in his eyes.

"You mean mom? I know she's at the hospital. Why are you crying?"

"No, Kurt, I mean... Your mom... she's _gone_."

Kurt sat in shock for nearly five minutes. His mom was...gone? He knew his mom was very, very sick, and that she'd been in the hospital a lot lately, but when his dad said_ gone_, did he mean...? No he couldn't mean that. That wasn't going to happen. Kurt's mom wasn't actually _gone_.

Right?

"You... you mean...she..." Kurt's eyes welled up and tears spilled over. He desperately willed himself not to believe it. This wasn't happening. He was just dreaming. He was going to wake up in a few minutes and his mom was going to help him with the full milk container again and...

But the way his dad nodded told him otherwise.

Kurt pulled his knees up to his chest, placing his chin on them. The eight year-old simply stared at one of the loose threads on his blanket. Normally, a loose thread would drive him insane, and he'd pick at it until it came off, but now he just looked at it. The tears kept flowing out of his eyes, because they needed somewhere to go. They needed to escape, the way Kurt did. Kurt didn't blink the tears away. He just let them do as they pleased.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kurt," his father was saying.

"'S not your fault," the third grader murmured in reply, voice thick.

"Can I get you anything? A glass of water maybe?"

'_Redvines_," Kurt thought. "Blaine," he said aloud, looking up at his father. "I want... I need Blaine. Dad, can he come over, please?"

Kurt didn't know why he wanted Blaine, but he remembered back when he found out about his mom being sick, and Blaine had made him feel better. The way Blaine held his hand and hugged him and gave him Redvines made him feel better.

Burt looked at his son for a moment, a little confused. He hadn't expected that answer from Kurt. Nonetheless, he stood up and gave him a hug before saying, "Of course. I'll go call his house right now."

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled as his dad left the room. Once he heard his dad's voice on the phone upstairs, Kurt quietly slipped out of his room and dashed silently down the hall.

He stopped at his parents room and eased the door open, careful not to make a noise. He pulled one of the drawers of his mom's dresser open, and found multiple T-shirts. He searched through them, and pulled out the one that had always been his favorite. It was plain white, with a big Mickey Mouse on the front. He'd bought it for her when they went to Disney World a few years back.

Taking the shirt, Kurt shoved the drawer closed again and scurried back to his room, careful to be quiet enough so that his dad wouldn't hear him. He proceeded to jump onto the bed again, where he pressed the shirt to his face and _inhaled_, then stuffed it under his pillow as he heard his dad open his door.

"Kurt?" Burt called down the steps. "Blaine's going to be here soon."

"Thank you," Kurt said.

"Do you want some apple juice?"

"Sure," Kurt crawled out of his bed again and joined his dad upstairs, taking his outstretched hand.

XOXOX

By the time Blaine got to Kurt's house, the latter was curled up on his bed again, crying harder than before. Because it finally _hit_ him. At first it was just a little numbing and confusing, but now he understood. She wasn't coming back.

_She wasn't coming back_.

"Kurt?"

When the soft voice sounded from his doorway, Kurt shoved his mother's shirt back underneath his pillow and sat up, turning around. The small boy's watery blue eyes met Blaine's round hazel ones, which also filled with tears almost instantaneously.

"Blaine," Kurt choked out, dashing off of his mattress and slamming into his friend, arms wrapping around the shorter boy's middle and broken face pressed into his shoulder. He had no idea what it was about Blaine that made him feel better, but when he allowed himself a shaky breath and inhaled the scent of his very best friend, he relaxed. Even if it was just by a little bit.

There were three scents in the world that made Kurt feel safe, at home: His mother, his father, and Blaine.

Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt and held him tight.

"I brought you Redvines," he said after a minute, pulling away and holding up the jumbo bad of candy. "I thought you might need a lot."

Kurt almost laughed. He wanted to, but he didn't. He couldn't. Something just felt wrong about wanting to laugh, or even smile.

"Thanks," he mumbled instead.

XOXOX

The next Monday, Kurt was still just as upset as he was on Friday, if not more so. The funeral had been held on Sunday. It had been a closed-casket ceremony. Burt Hummel watched as his son turned and looked over his shoulder while walking away, offering his dad one last sad wave before disappearing into the building. Burt had tried his best to be strong for his son, but it was proving extremely difficult. He had given Kurt the option to stay home from school that day, but the boy had declined, saying that he wanted to see Blaine.

Burt was a little worried about his sons dependency on Blaine. What if either of them had to move away? How would Kurt deal with that? For the time being, though, Burt set those worries aside and was grateful that Kurt had such a good friend.

When Kurt walked into his classroom, he found Blaine was already there, sitting at his desk and reading the second Harry Potter book. The dark-haired boy looked up as Kurt entered the room. He marked and shut his book as Kurt sat in his seat next to him.

"Are you okay?"

Kurt just shrugged, tearing up a little. _Darn it_. Kurt hated crying at school. Home was okay, but school wasn't because—

"What's wrong, Kurtie?" Dave's voice sneered. "Did you get dirt under your nails?"

Kurt flinched, but grabbed Blaine's sleeve as he moved to snap back at the other boy, shaking his head.

"Don't," Kurt said, not wanting Blaine to get in trouble.

"But he—"

"Please."

Blaine sighed and turned back to his book irritatedly.

XOXOX

"Did you get dirt under your nails?"

Even before he said the words, he already felt bad. Did he regret it? No. But he felt bad. He didn't even know why he was so mean to Kurt, why he'd always been.

Oh, that's right, because Kurt was always so happy. He was always laughing with that Blaine kid. Plus, Kurt was good at _everything_. Kurt could draw, he could sing, he had really nice handwriting, and the teacher loved him. All of their teachers loved Kurt.

On the inside, Dave just wanted to run up to Kurt and tell him he was sorry, that he didn't mean it. But on the outside, he just laughed and sat down at his desk across the room from the other boy.

XOXOX

That night, while Kurt's dad was tucking him into bed, he was asked if how he was holding up. Kurt shrugged and thought about Dave's sneers at school and the other boys pushing him around all of the time. He almost told his dad about it, but thought it would be better if he didn't his dad had enough on his plate as it was.

"I'll be alright."

"You sure, Kid?"

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

* * *

_Sucky end to the chapter, I know._

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	5. Fourth Grade

**AN: **_ASDFGHJKL Sorry for the delay, guys! I've been sick the past couple of days, and everytime I would try to write, Tumblr would distract me... (go follow me! sydnimaxine ;) ) The next chapter is gonna bump the rating up to T, just a little FYI. This chapter's a smudge longer than the others :P Anywho, ONWARD, MY PRETTIES_

**Disclaimer:** _ha, as if I owned Glee_

* * *

By fourth grade, Kurt's heart was starting to mend. No, it would never heal completely, but there were stitches that would help hold it together.

One of those stitches was his father. Burt Hummel always woke his son up with a smile on his face, despite how he was feeling inside. Kurt's father always put his son before himself. When he would fail miserably at cooking dinner, they would laugh together. The first time it happened, they stopped abruptly and just looked at each other with a little confusion. Was laughing... okay? After a while, though, they began to feel more at ease with the idea of being happy.

Another one of those stitches was Blaine. It didn't matter how much Dave picked on him at school or how often he missed his mother singing to him at night. Blaine always found a way to make him smile. Sometimes when they were spending the night together, and they were lying quietly in the dark, Kurt would whisper to the curly-haired boy, asking if he would sing to him. Blaine always did.

The third stitch was the T-shirt that Kurt had taken from his parents room in the previous year. Even after staying under his pillow for over twelve months, it still managed to smell like her. He didn't cuddle with it every night like he used to, but when he's been having a particularly bad day, either with bullying from Dave or just missing his mother, he'd pull it out from under his multiple pillows and press it to his face.

There was also an unexpected stitch to help mend his heart: Blaine's mom. Now, Blaine's mother was in no way a replacement for his own, but Kurt found that he liked spending time with her. Sometimes when Kurt was at Blaine's house and Blaine's mother was working in her studio, Kurt would just sit in there and watch her work, occasionally asking questions. Blaine's mom had the best job in the world, Kurt thought. She got paid—and lots of money, too—to create her own clothes. Mrs. Anderson always welcomed Kurt's opinions and comments, and every once in a while she even agreed with him, changing the neckline in a shirt or adding different buttons to the pockets of a pair of jeans because Kurt suggested it. This always made Kurt feel important, like his opinion mattered.

Today was one of those days. It was a Friday, and the boys had had a half-day at school, so Kurt was spending the afternoon and that night at Blaine's house. Apparently there was a huge football game on TV, and Blaine had wanted to watch it with his father. Kurt, on the other hand, didn't have any interest in watching football, so instead he spent those few hours with Mrs. Anderson in her studio while she worked on a new dress. Kurt sat on the love seat on one side of the room while pattered on and 'tsk'ed to herself.

"Is something wrong?" Kurt asked, watching as she eyes the skirt of the dress.

"I can't decide if I want to leave this floor length or cut it shorter," Mrs. Anderson replied, fingering the fabric.

Kurt hopped up from his chair and grabbed his sketchbook from the side table he'd left it on. He made a quick copy of the design laying out on the desk—which was extremely good for his age—only making the skirt much shorter. Not too short, though. It ended just below the knees.

"What about this?" he asked, holding his drawing out to her.

"That... wow, Kurt, that's fantastic!" Mrs. Anderson moved to edit the drawing on her desk.

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled in reply, blushing a little.

"Do you have any other pictures in there?" Blaine's mom asked as she finished her touch-ups.

"A few," Kurt replied, turning to the front of the notebook.

"May I see them?" Mrs. Anderson asked with a smile. It reminded Kurt of Blaine's smile.

"I guess if you want to..." Kurt said as he handed her the sketchbook. He grew a little self-conscious as she flipped through the pages, a skeptical look on her face. The small boy picked imaginary lint off of his pristine clothes and shuffled his feet.

"Kurt, these are... quite impressive for someone your age," she said, smiling at him. "They're very, very good. You should keep at it." Mrs. Anderson closed the notebook and handed it back to Kurt.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile.

"Hey, and maybe once you're old enough you could work for me," she winked and stood up from her desk, ruffling his hair—which he immediately fixed—as she passed to finish her project.

XOXOX

The next Monday, Kurt and Blaine walked into class together, all smiles and laughter, until they heard a familiar voice.

"You're such a _freak_," Dave's sneer came from the other side of the room, where he had a very scared-looking Rachel cornered, tears in her eyes.

Kurt was _fed up_. Dave had picked on him and insulted and pushed him around for _years_. And now he was picking on _Rachel_? No, this was not okay.

"Hey!" Kurt shouted, running over and putting himself between the two. "You _cannot_ say stuff like that to her!"

"Yeah?" Dave laughed, taking a step closer to Kurt, invading his space. "What are you going to do about it?"

Kurt didn't say anything. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He wanted to, but he didn't know what to say. Dave just smirked at him, then reached up and pushed Kurt over, effectively sending him sprawling on the ground. The smaller boy glared up at him.

"That's what I thought," Dave laughed. He moved to actually _kick_ Kurt while he was down, but Blaine intervened, stepping in front of Kurt and shoving Dave away.

"Don't you _dare_!" Blaine shouted, face malicious. "All you are is a bully, Dave. You constantly try to put people down for irrational reasons, trying to make them feel bad about themselves because you're _jealous _or because you have this illogical idea that you're better than them, and it's _not okay_!"

Dave looked properly terrified, now, and Kurt was very impressed with Blaine's vocabulary. Then suddenly, Dave's expression changed. Anger spreading over his features, he reached back and proceeded to connect his fist to Blaine's face, right under his eye. Rachel shrieked in horror, and Kurt finally pulled himself up off the floor.

"Go get a teacher!" Kurt told her, and she nodded fearfully, eyes wide as she ran out of the room.

Almost the whole class was surrounding them to watch and Dave repeatedly hit Blaine in the face, chest, shoulder. Blaine was sometimes able to dodge or deflect the blows, but he knew better than to hit back.

"Stop it!" Kurt yelled, trying to put himself between the two. He was pushed away by Dave, though, colliding with the wall and having the wind knocked out of him.

"Boys! What's going on?" Kurt vaguely processed Mr. Edwardson bursting into the room, and effectively pulling Dave off of Blaine.

When he was able to breathe—and think—he found that Rachel was helping him into a sitting position. He looked up at Blaine, who had a split, bloody lip and a dark shadow already forming under his eye. Blaine wasn't crying, but just the sight of him cause tears to well in Kurt's eyes.

XOXOX

"So I got a call from your principal today," Burt said, looking sidelong at his son as they pulled away from the school. Kurt fiddled nervously with his seat belt and bit his lip, not saying anything. "Why didn't you tell me this kid was picking on you, Kurt?" Kurt shrugged, avoiding his dad's eyes.

"I didn't feel like I needed to," he said quietly. "And... And I didn't want to disappoint you."

"What?" Burt asked, shocked. "How on Earth could a bully picking on you make me disappointed in _you_?"

"Well," Kurt started, "you always say that 'no one pushes the Hummels around,' and I thought that... _me_ being pushed around might... disappoint you."

"Kurt—"

"I _know_ I'm not like the other boys, Dad. I don't like football, or cars, or action movies. I like clothes, and decorating, and singing; those kind of things. And I'm pretty sure that's what Dave picks on me for, because I'm _different_."

Burt Hummel's eyes were getting misty. He was ninety percent sure of what was going on, but Kurt didn't understand it yet, so he wasn't going to say anything. Instead, he pulled into the parking lot of a nearby ice cream shop and shut off the car, climbing out and gesturing for Kurt to follow. Confused, Kurt undid his seat belt and followed his father into the parlor.

Burt ordered a double chocolate chunk in a waffle cone, while Kurt opted for a small vanilla scoop in a cup. They sat at a table in the corner quietly, and Kurt mind was reeling, worrying about just what his father wanted to say to him.

"Kurt," the boy looked up at the sound of his name. Burt's eyes were boring into his, transferring a large amount of emotion through just the expression. "I don't want you to ever be afraid to tell me _anything_, alright? I'd much rather hear about you being bullied from you before it's so serious that I get a call from the principle. If you had told me sooner, I could have stopped it.

"And there is no way that you being bullied could ever make me disappointed in you, understand?"

Kurt nodded as he replaced his spoon in his cup. "Okay."

"I also need to tell you that the bullying is _not_ your fault, okay? No matter what those kids say, yo are absolutely perfect as you are." Kurt nodded again, trying not to tear up. "Your principal also told me that Dave is going to be suspended for a few days, and when he comes back, he's not going to be in your class anymore. Plus, they're going to keep him out of your class next year, too."

Kurt nearly started crying. He was so relieved to not have to worry about the bully anymore. And he knew that they would be going to different middle schools. Four years without Dave Karofsky. _Yes, please_.

"Do you know how much trouble Blaine is in?" the fourth-grader asked.

"No, they didn't tell me. You can call him when we get home, though." But replied.

"Alright," Kurt said as his father stood up. "And, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

XOXOX

It turns out that Blaine didn't get into too much trouble, he only had a referral sent home with him since he never actually hit Dave back—both Rachel and Kurt had confirmed it. He did have and ugly, dark bruise under his eye and a scabbed lip, though. So the next day they walked into class together with higher spirits and smiles on their faces. They were sitting at their desks and preparing themselves for another day of having knowledge shoved down their throats when Rachel walked up to them, seemingly oddly shy for her competitive attitude.

"Hi, guys," she said with a small smile.

"Hey Rachel, what's up?" Blaine smiled at her.

"I, uhm, I wanted to thank you guys for standing up for me the other day. It wasn't something you had to do, and—here, I made you these." The small girl pulled her hands out from behind her back and held out two homemade bracelets to the pair. They were every color of the rainbow, and there was even a silver, sparkly thread woven in.

"Wow, Rachel," Kurt said. "There are really cool!"

Each boy took their bracelet and helped the other put it on, admiring them.

"You really like them?" Rachel smiled.

"Of course we do! They're totally awesome!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Would you help me put mine on?" She asked a little timidly, holding out another bracelet. Blaine jumped up from his seat and secured the band of threads onto her wrist. Then he tugged on her arm and pulled her into a hug. Kurt stood up quickly and joined them, wrapping his arms around Rachel from behind. All three of them laughed.

XOXOX

When Kurt was picked up from school that day, he immediately showed his dad the bracelet.

"That's really nice, Kurt. I take it your enjoying school a lot more, now?"

"Yeah, Dad. It's great."

* * *

_I changed the eeeennddiiiiing XD  
Not the line you thought it would be, huh?_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing _


	6. Fifth Grade

**AN: **_Alright, I've got lots of things to apologize for, first and foremost being how freaking long it took me to update. I know, I suck. I've been working on an original project recently, so my heads been stuck with those characters, plus this chapter didn't really want to be written. Or at least my alternate personality was just sitting in my head going "Haha, nope. Just writer's block for you." That leads to my next apology, which is for how short this chapter is. It's _way _shorter than any of the others. Lastly, want to say sorry for the fact that my Tumblr name changed. I told people to go look for SydniMaxine, then changed it to GreatPretending. So now I'm GreatPretending all over the internet (Including Twitter!) (Speaking of which, RIKER LYNCH HAS TWEETED ME. TWICE.) Oh, and sorry for how long this author's note is. I'll let you get onto the story now, if you didn't just skip over this and onto the reason you're here. ('S alright, I do that sometimes, too. :P)_

**Disclaimer: **_I own Glee as much as I own those Will and Kate condoms that they showed on _Oprah._...Which means not at all._

* * *

About a month into the fifth grade, Blaine was walking to class cheerily and whistling to himself.

_"And there's this one boy, Kurt Hummel."_

Blaine stopped in the middle of the hall as he was passing the teacher's lounge, confused at the sound of his best friend's name.

_"He's such a fag, always wearing these little bow ties and fixing his hair. I can't believe I have to teach that thing."_

The curly-haired boy recognized his teacher's voice. He didn't understand what the word _fag _meant, but it didn't sound good. And calling Kurt a _thing_ certainly wasn't good; he knew that much. Happy mood deflated, Blaine continued to the classroom, where he was greeted excitedly by Kurt. The shorter boy distractedly put away his homework folder as Kurt chatted at him.

"Blaine? _Blaaine_?" a hand waved in front of his face.

"Hmm?" Blaine turned to look at Kurt.

"Are you okay? Did you not sleep or something?"

Hazel eyes watched blue for a while, contemplating sharing what he'd heard.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"You're my best friend, right?"

"Of course. Why?"

The dark haired boy's eyes flickered around the room and he leaned in a little closer.

"Do... do you know what a _fag _is?" Blaine whispered nervously, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Kurt shook his head.

"What is it?" he asked confusedly.

"I don't know," Blaine admitted. "I was walking to class and heard Mr. Warnes in the teacher's lounge. He was talking about you and he called you a _fag_ and a _thing_," he said slowly, gauging his friends reaction.

"Oh," Kurt said, not sure what to think. "Are you sure?" Blaine nodded.

Kurt chewed on the inside of his cheek. He didn't know what that word meant, but he had noticed the way Mr. Warnes never smiled at him the way he did the other kids. This was further proven when the man in question walked into the room with a '_good morning!_' and smile that disappeared as he laid eyes on Kurt.

Kurt looked away immediately and swallowed. Blaine caught his eye and smiled sadly.

XOXOX

"Hey, Dad?" Kurt called nervously as he approached his father, who was sitting on the living room couch and watching a football game.

"Yeah, kiddo?" Burt's head turned towards his son, but his eyes didn't leave the screen. Kurt sat gingerly and licked his lips.

"What does _fag_ mean?" he asked, just audible over the sporting event. Burt stiffened and looked at his son slowly.

"Where'd you hear that?" he asked. Kurt grew more nervous, and hesitantly told his father what Blaine had said.

When Kurt went to bed that night, he was just as confused as he had been before.

So now he knew what that word meant, but he didn't understand why people thought it was bad to be gay. He can _sort of_ see it from their point of view if he squints, but he still doesn't know why it even could be wrong. His dad had said something about the bible, too, but they had never really been a religious family.

Teeth brushed and pajamas on, Kurt pulled a walkie-talkie out of his desk drawer. Blaine had moved into a house over in the next neighborhood, and they'd bought the devices so they could talk whenever they pleased without tying up the phone.

Kurt pressed the 'call' button, which would make Blaine's ring. A few moments later, his best friends voice crackled through the speaker.

"_Hey, Kurt_."

"Hi Blaine."

_"What's up?"_

"Nothing, really. I was just wondering, uhm. If you'd..." Kurt was unsure how to finish his sentence.

"_Asked what that word meant?_" Blaine asked. Kurt always marveled at how Blaine knew just what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he laughed a little.

"_Yeah, I did. Did you?_"

Kurt nodded, then realizing his friend couldn't see, quickly pressed the button and said, "Yeah."

A few moments of silence passed, and Kurt had begun to wonder if Blaine had disappeared when the speaker crackled again.

"_Kurt?_"

"Yeah?"

"_Do you think... you know, you might be? Gay, I mean?_"

Did he? Kurt had been thinking about that a little earlier. He didn't really know how he felt. Another minute passed before Kurt spoke again.

"I... I don't really know. I mean... I never really thought about it, you know?" he finally said.

"_Y-yeah_," Blaine replied.

"What about you?" Kurt asked.

"_I dunno either_."

"Oh."

"_Yeah_."

XOXOX

Come Monday, Both Kurt and Blaine's parents had spoken with the principal of the boys' school, and Mr. Warnes was no longer a part of their fifth grade picture. They now had a very nice, little old lady as a substitute until a permanent replacement was found. Unlike their previous teacher, this one took an immediate liking to Kurt as soon as he walked in, bow tie tied and cuffs linked. The substitutes first words were, "Well now, aren't you just precious?"

At the end of the day, Kurt climbed into his dad's truck as usual, and stored his bag at his feet.

"Hey, kiddo, how was school?" his father asked routinely.

"Good. Really good," Kurt smiled.

"Yeah? How's your new teacher?"

"Well, we've only got a substitute right now, but she's really nice. Class actually started late because she started talking to me about shoes," the boy's eyes were full of laughter, as was his voice. Burt chuckled.

"That's nice, kid. So you're all good?"

"Yeah, Dad," Kurt said, still smiling. "I'm fine."

* * *

_Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions/requests for a chapter, drop it in my inbox or in a review. :)_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	7. Sixth Grade

**AN: **_Did I really just take a few days to update and not a few months? What has this world come to? Oh, that's right, boring research projects that have barely been started. Anyway, as an apology for making the last chapter so short, this one is longer than ever. It was actually supposed to be even longer than this, but I have been writing for HOURS. So, go on, my pretties! Onto the next chapter of Kurt and Blaine's lives (literally! XD)_

**Disclaimer:** _I don't own Glee or Ranger's Apprentice. Those are just awesome things owned by other people. Well, I own Glee on DVD and all of the Ranger's Apprentice books, but I don't think that counts._

* * *

Dave looked out his window and sighed. Sixth grade _blew_. Sure he had fine grades, and his attendance was fine, but he just wasn't, well, happy. He didn't go to the same middle school as most of the kids from his elementary school did, and he'd immediately been thrown blindly into the sea of cliques with no one to lean on.

He'd taken up football, and found that it was something he was good at, something that people thought he was better for. Suddenly he had girls trying to flirt with him, somewhere to sit at lunch, and everyone seemed to want to be his friend. Heck, there were even eighth graders who reached out a hand to give him a high-five in the halls.

With encouragement from a linebacker on the team, Dave had continued his bullying ways. There were now janitor's closets to lock kids in, dumpsters to throw the dweebs in, and hard, metal lockers to shove them in. The sixth-grader was making the slow, steady climb to the top of the social ladder, and he knew there were kids who would give their left hand to be in his position. Well, not literally, because then they couldn't play football.

The boy sighed again as he watched a robin eat from the bird-feeder his little sister had made. With everything he had going for himself, you'd think that his smile would be genuine. But Dave couldn't help but feel that something was... missing.

XOXOX

Kurt looked out his window and sighed. Sixth grade was _awesome_. He had planned his back-to-school outfit back in July, and had all of his books and folders organized in a leather messenger bag. With his best friend, Blaine, by his side, the brunette felt as though he was on top of the world.

Kurt had taken up choir and stagecraft, putting his costume-making skills to good use. He had met a new girl, Mercedes, in that class, and after some bickering over stripes-versus-plaid and agreeing that there was never, ever an excuse for black and white polka-dots, the two had become fast friends. He and Rachel also shared choir class together, and the girl had made him and Blaine new friendship bracelets as soon as she found out they'd fallen off from so much wear.

Speaking of Blaine, the pair were inseparable. Nearly every weekend, Blaine was at Kurt's house or Kurt was at Blaine's. Sure, they had their occasional squabble—Kurt was _not_ going to be seen in public with Blaine if he was wearing a plaid shirt _and _plaid shorts—but whatever parent was around smoothed the argument over easily, and the two were back to laughter and smiles.

However, this school year couldn't only be rainbows and butterflies. Kurt had thought that all of his troubles had left now that he didn't have to deal with Dave anymore, but boy was he ever wrong. Now things had just gotten worse. There was a new bully who he only knew by his last name, Azimio, who'd decided to pick up where Dave had left off. Suddenly, both Kurt and Blaine were being thrown into lockers, dumpsters, and mud puddles. They'd learned to always keep an extra change of clothes at school.

Despite all of this, Kurt smiled as he spotted a familiar green van pull into his driveway, and he dashed down the stairs to greet his best friend.

XOXOX

A shrill ringing sounded from the top drawer in Kurt's desk, and he bounded over to it. Pulling out the walkie-talkie, he held down the big button and spoke into it.

"Hi, Blaine!"

"_Kurt! You'll never guess what!_"

"What?" Kurt asked as he flopped back down on his bed.

"_My mom's pregnant!_" Kurt shot back up into a sitting position.

"Are you serious?"

"_Yeah! I'm getting a little brother or sister!_" The excitement was very, very obvious in Blaine's voice.

"That's so awesome, Blaine!" In his mind, Kurt was already going through color schemes for a nursery.

"_I know!_" Kurt could practically hear Blaine jumping up and down. He loved little kids. "_Oh, and my mom said she had something she wanted to ask you. I dunno what, though. Wait, hold on, she's coming upstairs._"

The brunette heard the speaker crackle and waited for Blaine to return. What could Blaine's mom want to ask him?

"_Hey, Kurt, do you wanna come over tonight? My mom says it's okay!_"

"Sure! Hold on, I'll go ask my dad!"

Half an hour later, Kurt was sitting at the kitchen bar at Blaine's house while they ate their macaroni and cheese. Blaine was reading a book he'd gotten that day—he was _always_ reading—called the _Ranger's Apprentice_. Mrs. Anderson stood at the sink, cleaning up the sticky pot.

"So, Kurt," she said as she loaded it into the dishwasher. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah?" he said after he'd swallowed his bite.

"I've been thinking," she began, leaning on the counter and drying her hands. "My usual interior decorator moved to Texas a few months ago, and since this baby is going to need a place to stay..." Mrs. Anderson trailed off, rubbing her stomach. Kurt's face lit up and he nearly dropped his fork.

"Are you serious?" he exclaimed. Blaine's mother laughed.

"So I'll take that as a yes?" she asked. Kurt jumped down from his seat and ran over to her, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he said, bouncing with excitement.

"Hold on, honey, there's more," Kurt stopped bouncing and looked up at her in astonishment. How could there be _more_?

"In a few months, I'm going to be needed some help in the studio," Kurt's eyes grew wide, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Anderson held up a finger. "Now, I can't hire you as an employee yet, since you're only eleven, but I can let you hang around and start showing you the ropes for hiring you in the future."

"Like an apprentice!" Blaine piped in, looking up from his—_how in the world was he already halfway through that book?_

"Sure," the curly-haired boy's mother laughed again. "Like an apprentice." She turned to Kurt. "I already asked you're dad, and we agreed on you coming in on Saturdays from ten to two, if you're interested."

"Of course I want to!" Kurt squealed, hugging his friend's mom again. She just laughed and hugged him back.

"Alright," she said. "You start next week. Now go finish your dinner before it gets cold!"

XOXOX

Blaine would have liked to say that the next few months passed as they always had, but he couldn't. Kurt was spending every Saturday at his house now, and although it was exciting at first, it quickly grew annoying. It wasn't that he was bored of Kurt, but it seemed that Kurt was bored of _him_. They still sat next to each other on the bus every day and had fun during their Friday night sleepovers, but on Saturdays, Kurt spent the whole time with his _mom_. Blaine understood that from ten to two he wasn't allowed to bother Kurt because he was working, but even after two o'clock Kurt spent the rest of the afternoon with her, planning out the baby's room. They were constantly discussing colors for the walls, what kind of furniture to get, and how tacky wall stickers were. They even went shopping. They invited Blaine along of course, and he had gone the first few times, but it was so boring for him that he'd stopped.

Maybe that was it. It was all the baby's fault. The dumb thing was using mind-control on his mother and stealing his best friend. It was also making his mom throw up a lot. That had to be it.

So on Saturdays, Blaine stayed up in his room and buried himself in his books, letting their universes cloud reality. It went on for months until one afternoon in January when his father had the day off.

"Hey, Blaine!" Mr. Anderson called from the bottom of the stairs. Blaine was in a particularly bad mood, because as soon as the clock struck two, Kurt and Mrs. Anderson had dashed out the door to get to some baby sale in the mall. They hadn't even asked if he wanted to go. Not that he wanted to anyway.

"What?" he snapped, shutting his book. His dad paused for a second before replying.

"There's a Buckeyes game on, wanna watch it with me?"

"No!" Blaine didn't hear his father's sigh, but heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. There was a knock on his door. "What _now_?"

"May I come in, please?"

"Fine."

Mr. Anderson opened the door, then shut it quietly behind him. He took in his sons angry posture, arms and legs crossed as he sat in the middle of his bed.

"What's going on, bud?" his father asked, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

"Nothing."

"Blaine," his dad gave him the I-know-you're-lying-so-fess-up look. Blaine sighed.

"It's the stupid baby," Blaine said, feeling his eyes tear up. Mr. Anderson wasn't surprised by the answer.

"I thought you were excited to have a little sibling," he replied.

"Yeah, I _was_," Blaine said. "But that was before it stole Mom and Kurt from me!"

Blaine's father nodded and pulled his legs up onto the bed, facing his son.

"Is this about them spending so much time together?" he asked. Blaine sniffled and nodded. "And you're feeling left out?" Another nod.

"Kurt won't hang out with me anymore! And when we're at school or on the bus, all he talks about is working with Mom and the colors of the baby's walls!" Blaine shouted, frustrated.

"Blaine, you know that this is really exciting for Kurt, these are the kinds of things that he really enjoys. Things that make him happy."

"_I_ used to make him happy. But he doesn't need me anymore." Blaine's father decided to take a different approach.

"What happens when you find a new book that you really love?" he asked his son, who's eyes filled with confusion.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Well, does Kurt like to read as much as you do?" his dad asked.

"No, Kurt likes to draw."

"And when you get a new book, don't you tell him all about it, even though it might not be something he's as interested in?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Isn't that the same?"

Huh. Blaine never thought about it that way before. He knew that Kurt didn't really like the spy books he read sometimes, or the ones about the dragons and sword fights, but whenever he read a new one and told Kurt all about it, his friend always listened to him.

"I guess," Blaine said, wiping his eyes.

"You and Kurt are best friends, right?" Blaine nodded. "He's not going to leave you because he's working for your mom. And I'm sure he misses spending time with you, too, but right now he's got a big project he's working on, and he's a little distracted."

"Okay," Blaine said. A few moments of silence passed. "Can we go see if the Buckeyes are kicking butt yet?" Mr. Anderson laughed.

"Sure, let's go."

XOXOX

The baby was born in May, and Kurt was even more excited than when his dad took him on a shopping spree for his birthday. Blaine stayed at his house while his mom and dad went to the hospital, and the pair eagerly sat by the phone, awaiting Mr. Anderson's call.

"If it's a girl you can dress her up like the Disney princesses," Kurt said, and Blaine laughed.

"You mean _you_ can dress her up like the Disney princesses?" Kurt just shrugged. "If it's a boy we can make him smuggle cookies out of the jar for us."

They talked for hours, just sitting at the kitchen table with the phone between them. It had rung once already, but it just turned out to be one of Kurt's dad's friends. The boys were completely impatient, watching the clock as though their stares could make the numbers change faster. _Finally_, the phone rang again and Blaine snatched it up, looking at the caller ID and shouting, "It's him!" before answering.

"Hi, Dad!" he said into the receiver while Kurt bounced in his seat. "Yes!" Blaine said, answering an unheard question, then yelled "Really?" and his face lit up. He listened for a minute before saying, "Okay, love you, Dad! Bye!" and hanging up.

"It's a girl!" He said excitedly, and Kurt squealed.

"What's her name?" Burt asked from where he'd been making dinner.

"Addison," Blaine said with a smile.

"Awww! That's such a cute name!" Kurt gushed.

"Yeah," Blaine said. "And my dad said we could go see them at the hospital tomorrow." He looked up at Burt hopefully.

"We'll leave as soon as you're awake, fed and dressed," he said, pulling chicken nuggets—organic, as per Kurt's demands—out of the oven.

"Yes!" The boys shared a high-five.

* * *

_Okay, I'd like to say to any of you who've read the Ranger's Apprentice books, that I did the math. The first book was released in the US in 2005, the year that Kurt and Blaine would have turned eleven (in my head at least. I'm pretty sure they were born in 1994, correct me if I'm wrong) so whether you like to think of it that way, or have them be this age in 2011 or whatever, he could have been reading the book. Anyways, enough with my too-long Author's Notes._

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	8. Seventh Grade

**AN: **_I know, I know, I totally suck. I never update quick enough. But with school-okay, that's not an excuse I never do my homework anyways. In all honesty, this chapter didn't want to write. I think I said that with the last one, too. Plus with my story 'Go' and my book, I've just been sidetracked. Anywho, enough with the excuses! Onto the story!_

**Disclaimer:**_ My sore muscles aren't aching from the four hours of manual labor i did yesterday, they're really just yearning to own Glee._

* * *

Wait, _what_? Was that...? No, is... that... it... oh, _ew_. Did they seriously mean...? That's just..._ugh_.

These were the thoughts running through Kurt's head as he sat on the FIT ball in his Health and PE class. Normally this class consisted of running around outside or lazily playing tennis, and as much as Kurt hated getting sweaty, he would really rather resume those activities. This was just... _horrifying_.

Kurt silently cursed his fair skin as he felt his face heat up, knowing that it was turning as red as his bow tie. Never in a million years would Kurt do _that_. Because that was just gross. Not that girls were gross, lot's of Kurt's friends were girls, like Mercedes and Rachel, but what this graphic video was telling him made him sick to his stomach. He leaned forward and rested his head on his arms, eyes glued to the corner of the screen so that it only seemed that he was paying attention.

A few minutes later he snuck a glance over at Blaine, who was sitting next to him. The curly haired boy was sitting as though he had a broomstick shoved up his butt, his hands clasped together so tightly on the desk that his knuckles were white, and his eyes staring straight ahead. Kurt couldn't read his normally expressive face. Blaine's eyebrows—which had recently begun to take on a rather triangular shape—were furrowed slightly, as thought he were concentrating on something.

Kurt turned his eyes back to the corner of the screen and prepared to wait out the most awkward hour of his life.

XOXOX

"Kurt? Kurt, honey, you're sewing those buttons on backwards."

Kurt snapped out of his reverie, and focused back at the little black buttons in his hands. They were, indeed, backwards.

"Shoot, I'm sorry, Lori," Kurt said as he began to remove the buttons, shaking his head.

Lorelle eyed her not-quite-employee as he furiously cut stings, poking himself with the needle a few times.

"Kurt?" she said again, sitting down in one of the two arm chairs, and the boy looked up at her with apology and exhaustion clear in his eyes. "Come sit with me." Lori gestured to the chair beside her.

Kurt set down his needle and sat awkwardly in the cushioned chair, avoiding Mrs Anderson's eyes.

"What's been going on with you lately, buddy?" She asked, worry in her tone. The boy fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously.

"I've just been a little distracted lately," he tried to pass it off. 'Distracted' was an understatement. Ever since they'd started Sex Ed in gym class, Kurt hadn't really stopped thinking about it. He honestly thought the whole idea was pretty disgusting. Why would you put _that _in _there_? Just..ugh.

And then there was the fact that Kurt had started noticing... _things_. See, there was this boy at school named Finn. Finn Hudson. And he had these really pretty brown eyes, and these nice arms and lips, and Kurt just wanted too... Oh my god there it was again. What did that even _mean_?

Was it... Was Kurt... Did he... was Kurt gay?

_Oh my god, I'm gay, aren't I?_ was Kurt's last thought before he burst into tears.

Whatever Blaine's mom had been expecting, it definitely wasn't this. She sat for a moment, a little shocked at the boy's outburst, before moving to him and hugging him tightly.

"Shh, Kurt, it's okay," she soothed. "It'll be alright."

Kurt clung to her and continued to cry, desperate to calm the confusion going on in his head right now.

Blaine, in the meantime, was having similar issues, though he dealt with them in a different way. He simply sat on his bed one night, staring at the comforter and working through his emotions.

He eventually came to the same conclusion as Kurt.

XOXOX

Their PE class became more and more awkward for the two boys. They never said a word to each other the whole time, each one wondering what the other was thinking.

Luckily though, they had only one more class after that, and once they met at the bus after school, the whole thing had blown over and they were back to being their hyperactive selves, eagerly discussing anything and everything on the ride home.

One Friday night, Blaine was sleeping over at Kurt's house, and the two were watching a show called _Sheer Genius_. Kurt kept going on and on about how Dee was going to lose because she kept doing the same haircut over and over again.

Blaine looked over at his friend, watching his face as he stared intently at the screen.

"Kurt?" he asked quietly. The boy in question turned to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"There's something I need to tell you, but you can't tell _anyone_, okay?" Blaine said, glancing around a little nervously. Kurt started to get a little worried.

"What is it?"

"Kurt, I... I think I might be..." Blaine took a deep breath. "I think I might be gay."

Kurt blinked.

Kurt took a moment to process this.

Blaine took his silence the wrong way.

"I mean," the curly haired boy was panicked. "I'm not positive, or anything. I don't really know for sure, but it—it's something I've been thinking about, and—" Blaine choked a little bit and looked down. Tears were starting to form in his eyes, and he looked scared.

"Blaine." He looked up and met Kurt's eyes, gaze wavering. "Blaine, it's okay."

Kurt put a comforting hand on Blaine's arm. He put aside all of his emotions and focused on getting that panicked look out of his best friends eyes. It didn't matter that Kurt was afraid to come out to Blaine right now—how would Blaine see him after that? Would Blaine think that Kurt was trying to copy him? What would that do to their friendship?—or that they'd already had experience with a homophobic teacher in the fifth grade. All Kurt cared about in that moment was helping his friend.

Blaine was full on crying now, and Kurt had to think quickly.

"Stay here, don't move," Kurt said quietly. The brunette jumped of the bed and into his closet, returning with his secret stash of Redvines. He handed one of the candies to the curly haired boy, who cracked a bit of a smile and even laughed a little at the gesture.

"Thanks," he whispered, his voice breaking just a little bit. Kurt grabbed his remote and pressed the mute button. There was silence for a few moments while Blaine chewed his candy before Kurt spoke up.

"Hey, Blaine?" the other boy looked up from the comforter his eyes had been fixed on. "You know this doesn't change anything, right? I mean, I know we've both been bullied and we know that a lot of kids get bullied for being gay, but I'm still your best friend. That's not going to change because of this." Blaine smiled and moved to hug his best friend.

"Thanks," he whispered again, and Kurt hugged him tighter. When Blaine pulled away, Kurt chewed his lip, debating voicing what was on his mind.

"Can I ask you a question?" Kurt asked a little shyly. Blaine nodded. "What... How did you figure it out?" Blaine was obviously caught off-guard be the question, as it took him a minute to respond.

"I don't really know," he finally said. "I mean, I guess when we were sitting with Dan and Eric and those guys at lunch and they were all talking about how hot that Melanie girl was or whatever, and I never really saw it, you know?" A moment passed. "At first I thought it might just be the girl, but I didn't see it in any of them around school at all." Blaine blushed furiously. "And then during gym class the other day, when we were playing soccer, and I... I looked over, and—and there was this one b-boy," Blaine was clearly becoming very embarrassed, but he continued anyways. "And I—I guess I found him... attractive? Yeah, I think that's the word." By this point, Blaine's eyes were cast back down at the comforter on Kurt's bed.

"Huh. Alright," Kurt said, staring at the headboard. He knew he didn't want to tell Blaine that he'd been having similar thoughts—at least not yet. There were too many thoughts buzzing around in his head already. "Can I ask one more question?"

"You just did," came Blaine's response. Kurt rolled his eyes, but a wicked grin spread across his features.

"Who was the guy?"

Blaine sat in shocked silence for a good minute, his face somehow managing to turn an even deeper red.

"No. No no no no no. No way," he said, holding his hands up and backing away from Kurt, who showed no signs of giving up.

"Tell me."

"No."

Kurt was kneeling on the bed now, ready to pounce.

"Spill, Blaine."

"No!"

"Alright, you asked for it!"

The brunette proceeded to tackle the other onto the mattress, where an evenly matched and very drawn out wrestling match began. Normally Kurt couldn't stand the idea of messing up his clothes like that, but really now, this was Blaine, and he wasn't going anywhere tonight anyways.

About fifteen minutes later both boys lay side-by-side on their backs, spread out like starfish and breathing heavily.

"Blaine?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine."

Little did Kurt know that his best friend had been speaking of him.

* * *

_This was a little different from the other chapters, and yes, I do realize I stopped adding the ending I had in the beginning; it just stopped fitting into the chapters. Anyways, sorry again for the wait!_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing_


	9. Eighth Grade

**AN: **_I'm sorry I'm a terrible person. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. I tried, I really did. I'm not even going to give you any excuses as to why I didn't update when I said I would. I'm only going to apologize._

_This chapter is for Juliet Hummel-Anderson, who asked for a dance in the eighth grade chapter._

**Disclaimer: **_I'd probably be a bit more responsible if I owned Glee._

* * *

"Addison Kay Anderson, you do _not _bite."

The stern voice came from Mr. Anderson. Kurt examined his slobber-covered finger, where tiny bite marks were visible. Blaine's father took the two year-old out of his arms and he sat back down at the kitchen bar. Blaine himself sat next to him, reading another book and trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," Mr. Anderson continued. "She's growing in new teeth again." He handed Addison a teething toy, which she immediately chomped down on.

"No, it's alright. I understand," Kurt replied. He wiped his finger off on Blaine's T-shirt, who smacked his hand away in protest.

The pair finished their dinners and made their way up to Blaine's tree house. It had changed over the years, crayons and building blocks slowly being replaced by stolen copies of Vogue and hand-held game consoles. Kurt and Blaine sat themselves down at the small table in the center of the room and prepared a game of Egyptian Ratscrew.

They played the game over and over, and when the sun finally set, they moved over to the bean bags in the corner. Getting comfortable, they looked out the window of the tree house, where they could see stars starting to appear in the sky, one by one. Blaine was as relaxed as ever. Kurt, on the other hand, was growing more and more tense by the second.

"Kurt?" His head snapped up. "I can hear you thinking."

"Sorry," Kurt mumbled, looking down at his hands. Blaine turned in his beanbag, facing the other boy.

"What's wrong?"

Oh, god, Blaine could read him like a book. Kurt's heart was pounding. He did _not_ want to have this conversation. But he knew he had to. Kurt hated keeping this to himself and there was no one Kurt trusted more than Blaine.

"Me too," Kurt said to his hands.

"What?" Blaine asked, bewildered.

"I-I think I'm gay, too," Kurt elaborated, looking at his friend worriedly. Blaine took a moment to process this.

"Really?" he asked. Kurt just nodded.

"Huh. Okay."

Okay.

_Okay_.

Kurt had never been so grateful of the little world in all of his life. Blaine wasn't upset, and he wasn't making a big deal out of it. Relief washed over Kurt like water down a waterfall. He relaxed back into his beanbag, looking out at the rapidly appearing stars.

Suddenly, Blaine stood up.

"Let's climb onto the roof," he suggested. Kurt looked at him like he was nuts.

"Uhm... How about no? I'd rather not break my neck tonight."

"Oh, come on, Kurt! Where's your sense of adventure?" And with that, Blaine, climbed right out the window and on top of the roof.

"Blaine!" Kurt yelled. "Get down!"

A curly head appeared upside-down in the window, a huge, goofy grin adorning his face.

"You can see so many more stars up here!" he exclaimed, disappearing again.

Kurt huffed, stood up, and made his way over to the window. He put his feet on the sill, standing up onto it and turning around, gripping the roof for support. Then he made the mistake of looking down.

Holy crap, the ground was a long ways away. Suddenly frozen with his eyes glued to the ground, Kurt managed a panicked, "Uh... Blaine?"

"Yeah?" Blaine popped up from over the roof, taking in Kurt's frightened expression and immediately offering his hand.

Kurt took it quickly and let his friend pull him up over the edge.

"Ohmygod I can't ever do that again," Kurt babbled, scrambling to the center of the square roof, where he felt safest. "That was the scariest thing ever, remind me to never, ever—"

"Kurt."

The rambling ceased and Kurt looked at Blaine, pointing up. Kurt looked at the sky and gasped. He could see more stars than he imagined there being. Blaine laid down on his back, hands under his head, and Kurt slowly joined him.

"That's the Milky Way," Blaine said, pointing out a faint luminous band that Kurt would have guessed were clouds. "And there's Pegasus, and Perseus..." Blaine continued to astound Kurt with his fast knowledge of the constellations, telling him myths and legends for each one, and how they're supposed to relate to horoscopes.

"I never knew you knew so much about astronomy," Kurt said. Blaine shrugged.

"Just bored on the internet one afternoon."

They stayed there for a few minutes, still stargazing. They just had one more month of middle school left, and then they were moving on to high school. Kurt was a little frightened by the prospect, but he knew that with Blaine by his side, he'd be okay with anything.

"Hey, you know what?" Blaine asked, and Kurt hummed his recognition. "We should go to Farewell, Freshmen together."

Kurt's eyebrows knitted together. Farewell, Freshmen was a dance that the school threw for the eighth graders who were leaving for high school.

"You mean, like, _together_?" Kurt asked a little awkwardly.

"I-I mean if you want, but I just thought that—"

"Sure, Blaine. I'll go to Farewell, Freshmen with you," Kurt teased.

XOXOX

When Blaine's mom found out, she basically had a field day, pretty much demanding that Kurt come over to watch Addison with Blaine so that she could design and create them wonderful little semi-formal outfits to wear to the dance. She didn't know that they were going _together_, because they decided to tell their parents that they were just going as friends.

Kurt didn't mind though. It was kind of thrilling to keep the secret from their parents.

XOXOX

The dance itself went swimmingly, for the most part. Blaine's mother drove them to the school in their impeccably tailored suits. Both were gray, but Blaine wore a navy blue shirt whereas Kurt's was red.

They had a lot of fun, hanging out with Rachel and Mercedes and a few other kids from their classes, eating bad snacks and dancing to bad music. Throughout the night, a few slow dances came on, and Kurt and Blaine stood on the sidelines awkwardly, waiting at the three minutes ticked by before rejoining the others.

It wasn't until they were leaving when things took a turn for the worst.

The pair were waiting for Kurt's dad to arrive to pick them up, where Blaine would spend the night at their house. They weren't bothering anyone, simply keeping to themselves, talking and laughing at one of the picnic tables out in the courtyard.

"I'm serious!" Blaine was saying. "That squirrel was actually laughing at me!"

Kurt wiped his eyes, which were tearing up from laughing so hard.

"Blaine, there's no way that a—"

"Hey!"

Both boys looked up at the voice, finding Azimio Adams leaning over them.

"Can we help you?" Blaine asked the boy, and Kurt was shocked at how calm he sounded. Azimio had been the largest cause of their bullying to date. When Kurt had become aware of his presence, his whole body had tensed and fear wracked through his veins.

"Sure, you can help me. Help me by not showing your faggy faces at these dances and ruining my night."

Kurt flinched. He hadn't been called a fag since he'd had that horrible teacher in the fifth grade. He didn't have much time to worry about it though, because as soon as the words came out of his mouth, Azimio's fist had connected with Blaine's eye.

Everything happened very quickly after that.

Kurt screamed for Blaine, trying to reach him, but he was held back by an unseen force and thrown down into the picnic table. His forehead collided with the corner of the wood, and his head whipped back, causing him to fall to the ground. He opened his eyes in time to see another one of his tormentor's foot come down onto his stomach. He curled in on himself, gasping in pain.

Meanwhile, Blaine could taste blood in his mouth. His teeth had cut the inside of his cheek when he'd been punched, and now he was on his stomach, the heavy weight of a shoe on his spine. Blaine opened his eyes, and managed to make eye contact with Kurt. The boy had a large cut on his forehead and he was clutching at his stomach.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. The weight was lifted off of Blaine's back, and he could hear shouting going on around them.

XOXOX

A month later, Kurt was sitting on his living room couch, laughing through _America's Got Talent _and avoiding the July heat. The bruise on his forehead had faded, and the entire fight was not just a bad memory.

The doorbell rang, and Kurt jumped up, calling an "I've got it!" to his dad who was in the kitchen. Glancing through the peephole, Kurt could see Blaine standing on his front porch. Pleasantly surprised, Kurt pulled the door open with a smile.

The smile quickly faded, however, when Kurt saw the tears rimming his best friends eyes.

"Blaine?" the smaller boy asked. "What's wrong?"

"They're making me transfer," Blaine said brokenly. "We're moving away."

* * *

_Gaaahhh don't hate me, please!_

_Love, Live, Sing,_

_Sydni Maxine_


	10. Ninth Grade

**AN:** _Sorry I suck._

**Disclaimer: **_If I owned Glee I'd get fired for not meeting deadlines._

* * *

Ugh. High school was hell.

No, seriously. Kurt hated it. Every day he was being thrown into dumpsters by people he'd never even spoken to, shoved into lockers by people three times his size, and getting his designer sweaters stained by spaghetti that was flung at him.

Yeah, high school sucked.

He did his best though. He managed good grades, he stayed out of trouble, and avoided the bullies as best he could.

But that's enough about school.

What Kurt was really excited about was the upcoming Winter break, because Blaine was coming back into town.

_Just a few more days_, he told himself, straightening his vest in the full-length mirror on his closet door. _Just a few more days_.

XOXOX

What. Was. This.

Dalton was... Dalton was... _wow._

The school itself was gorgeous, of course, looking more like a Victorian mansion than an educational institution. But there were so many boys. They were everywhere. And they were all in uniform.

If Blaine was unsure of his sexuality before, he sure as hell wasn't now.

But anyway, there's more exciting news. He's going back to Lima fore Winter break. He get's to see Kurt again.

_Just a few more days_, he tells himself, tying his Dalton tie. _Just a few more days._

XOXOX

Oh, man, high school was freaking _awesome_. Dave owned this place since the moment he stepped foot in it, and he wouldn't ask for it any other way. It didn't matter that he was a freshman as well. Since he was already a starting member of the football team, all of the other weak little kids feared him. Dave loved the smell of fear.

Well, he pretended he did at least, because that was way easier than being afraid himself. So instead of smiling at the kid who had practically done all of his math homework last year, he just shoved him into the lockers and handed him his Algebra book.

XOXOX

Kurt sat in his history class impatiently, staring at the clock. It was the last hour of the day, and the last hour before he got picked up from school (he refused to ride the bus. That thing smells like B.O.) and they went and picked up Blaine from his aunt's house, where they were staying for the weekend.

_5...4...3...2...1... Bing!_

Having packed up his things a while ago, Kurt dashed from the classroom, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone, flew down the hallway and out the door. He spotted his dad's truck and climbed in.

"Drive! Drive! Drive!" he demanded, pointing forcefully out the windshield. His father laughed.

"Calm down, kid," Burt said. "And put your seat belt on."

Kurt buckled up, bouncing anxiously in his seat as his dad pulled out of the school's parking lot.

The drive seemed to take much longer than it should have, but eventually—finally—they pulled into the driveway of Blaine's aunt's house. Kurt tore off his seat belt before the car had even stopped and got the door open as soon as he could get it unlocked.

Kurt ran up the driveway, onto the porch and raised his hand to knock. Before he got a chance, though, it was pried open and there stood Blaine and he had this huge smile on his face and Kurt just felt like squealing and tackling him in a hug.

So that's exactly what he did.

The rest of the day was spent in Kurt's bedroom, listening to music and just talking. Sure, they had talked on the phone a few times a week, but nothing compared to actually being there together. At one point, Kurt had had a momentary panic when he thought that maybe things would be awkward and they wouldn't have anything to say to each other, but his fears were dismissed as they fell back into the easy rhythm that was Kurt and Blaine.

They talked about McKinley and the talked about Dalton, they talked about friends and family and Blaine's crazy neighbors. They talked about music and movies and books, they talked about the time they went to Cedar Point a few Summers back, and how Addison has the most adorable little three year-old slur.

They'd fallen into an easy and comfortable silence, and Blaine had decided to speak what had been on his mind for quite some time now.

"Hey Kurt?" he asked, a little nervous.

"Hmm?" Kurt looked up from his sketchbook.

"Remember back in the seventh grade when I told you I was gay?" Blaine questioned, fiddling with the blanket on Kurt's bed.

"Yeah, why?" Kurt set his pencil down.

"Well, I just remember that you really wanted to know who the guy I liked was," Blaine rushed, tripping over his words. "And I guess—I mean—I just thought I'd tell you that—that it was you."

Blaine was blushing, looking down at his lap while Kurt gaped, mind reeling. What, exactly was he supposed to do with this information? Kurt swallowed.

"Do you still feel that way?" he asked, doing his best with what he was given.

"Oh, God," Blaine groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Uh, maybe? I-I don't know, I just, I don't—"

"Shh, Blaine, it's okay," Kurt soothed, pulling his friend into a hug. He let Blaine lean against him and tucked his head under his chin. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you on the spot like that."

"It's fine," Blaine said. He hadn't completely relaxed yet, and Kurt thought he knew a way to fix that.

"I just bought the Cinderella special edition DVD," he said. "Care to take a stroll down memory lane?" Blaine looked up at him and smiled.

"That sounds perfect."

* * *

_Sorry again for the delay and how short it was, but don't expect me to make any promises. ;)_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing  
_

_Sydni Maxine _


	11. Tenth Grade

**AN: **_This is what happens when I stay home sick. Crappy updates._

**Disclaimer:**_ Holy shit did you SEE The First Time? This is why I don't own Glee. That was flawless._

* * *

Kurt will admit that things got a little awkward after Blaine had admitted his feelings. It wasn't that Kurt didn't feel the same way—no, it wasn't that at all. In fact, Kurt did feel the same way, and that's why they drifted apart.

The rest of that weekend had been great. Blaine had spent the night at his house and everything was normal. Well, as 'normal' as Kurt and Blaine can get. Then the next day—after lots of hugs—Blaine had left, and Kurt holed himself up in his room with his Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, West Side Story, and Aida soundtracks, and contemplated his feelings.

He definitely liked Blaine back. Who wouldn't? The boy was charming, gorgeous, funny, kind, gorgeous, supportive, and did he mention drop dead _gorgeous_? Even as a freshman, Blaine was definitely one of the most attractive boys he knew. This all of course, was irrelevant to whether or not Blaine still felt that way. Because once he thought about it, Blaine never really did say if he still liked him.

But anyway, back to the present.

Things weren't getting any better when it came to the educational hell he had to visit every day. If anything, the bullying was getting worse. The dumpsters smelled worse than ever, but Kurt wasn't too obtuse to notice Finn Hudson. Kurt had met Finn back in sixth grade, and since then the boy had really, um, filled out. He'd gone from the lanky boy who was constantly pounding pencils on his desk like drumsticks, to actually playing the drums in Glee.

Yeah. Kurt had a class with him. A class where he got to sing, dance, and feel free to _be himself_. Kurt loved glee club. Especially that time when he got to dress in a Lady Gaga outfit. And when he got to sing _I Honestly Love You_ to Finn. Although he's pretty sure the message fell through.

He will admit, though, that his flailing around after Finn had originally started with him trying to get over Blaine. Blaine went to another school that was an hour away, where there were plenty of boys for him to ogle at. But the worst part was that last time he had checked, Blaine's facebook relationship status had change from _single _to _in a relationship_.

When Kurt saw that he couldn't decide if he wanted to throw up, cry, or both. He;d logged out, shut off his computer, and hadn't gone back on since. He'd 'accidentally' dropped his phone in the sink while doing the dishes, henceforth getting him a new phone—and a new number.

Kurt knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn't help himself. He was hurt, confused, and just plain emotional. He didn't understand why Blaine wouldn't call him before letting him find out through facebook, of all things. He thought they were closer than that.

When he was ready to contact Blaine, he would.

XOXOX

Dalton wasn't too bad. Blaine had joined many extracurricular classes at the beginning of Freshman year in order to gain friends quickly, ranging from the school's marching band to the debate team, and the soccer team. His favorite, though, was the show choir. They called themselves the Warblers. They got special blazers, respect from other students and even teachers, and being a Warbler made him feel special—like nothing could stop him if he set his mind to it.

His best friends at Dalton were all in the Warblers, including Wes and David, who Blaine had known in kindergarten. It was interesting to see that they were still attached at the hip. Those were the two who had gotten him boosted up on the waiting list after hearing him sing in the shower. They had practically pounced on him as soon as he had a towel wrapped around his waist, handing him pamphlets and sign-up sheets and even some secret insight on song suggestions for his audition.

But no one was supposed to know about that.

Wes and David had taken him under their wings, making him feel like he belonged right away. There was no awkwardness in the fact that they hadn't seen each other in eight years, and when Blaine had nervously come out to them, they'd simply looked at him and asked, "Do you also know how to make gravy out of watermelon? We've been trying to do that for years."

The creepiest part was that they'd said it at the same time.

And then Sophomore year rolls around and Blaine finds out that David is pretty much a master computer hacker. This of course, was revealed to him _after_ David had gotten onto his facebook and changed his relationship status just to freak his mother out. It probably didn't help that his password was _Dep_. He needs to stop putting his passwords as things he uses every day. Or if he'd logged onto facebook more often so he had actually known what his mother was freaking out about when she'd called.

After a, "No, mom. Don't worry, mom. I'm planning my revenge as we speak" and hanging up, he'd texted Kurt in hopes of having someone laugh with him instead of at him, the way Wes and David were outside his door right now.

However, as soon as the text was sent, a message came back that read: Error Invalid Number. Please re-send using a valid 10 digit mobile number or valid short code.

Huh. Hopefully David hadn't hacked his phone, too.

XOXOX

Things went like that for the rest of the year. Kurt got distracted with Glee, cheer leading, football, and all that other crazy stuff going on in his life, and he didn't contact Blaine for the rest of the year. He'd thought about Blaine at least every other day for the first few months, but by the time New Years rolled around, he was partying awkwardly at Brittany's house and too wrapped up in his life to think about it much.

That was, of course, until he was cooking dinner one night and his father walks into the kitchen.

"Haven't heard much from Blaine in a while. You guys still friends?"

Kurt froze for a moment, masher pressing into the potatoes more roughly than necessary.

"We're not _not _friends," he replied. "We just don't talk as often as we used to." Kurt had hoped his dad would drop it, but he was out of luck.

"It just seems weird because you guys were so close," Burt said, carefully gauging his son's reaction.

"Yeah," Kurt said, voice strained. "Weird how people drift apart when they don't see each other for a few years." He mashed the potatoes with renewed force, taking his anger out on the vegetables.

"Are you alright, buddy?" Burt asked, curious as to why mentioning Blaine set Kurt off like that. Kurt relaxed, shaking some potato off his utensil and dropping it into the sink.

"Yeah, Dad. I'm fine."

* * *

_I'm sorry, okay?_

_Criticism = Love_

_Love, Live, Sing,  
Sydni Maxine _


	12. Eleventh Grade Fall Trimester

**AN: **_I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. I was really dreading this chapter, because I knew it was going to be super long, but I think I've found a way to make this work. For purpose of the story and my sanity, we're going to say that McKinley is set up in trimesters instead of semesters. So the eleventh and twelfth grade years will be written into Fall, Winter, and Spring trimesters.  
Sorry again for the delay!_

**Disclaimer:** _If I owned Glee, there wold totes be some cuddle action going on in that choir room._  
_Also box scene._

* * *

Something hit Kurt in the shoulder, _hard, _and he was sent slamming into his own locker. He narrowly managed to avoid cracking his head on the door frame, and fell in a heap on the floor. Looking up, he saw Dave Karofsky laughing and smiling with Azimio.

Yes, Kurt Hummel's two childhood bullies had now teamed up, and they were making his life _hell_.

XOXOX

"First, the a capella choir from the all-boys private school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers!"

_Dalton._

Holy shit. It doesn't matter how hard Kurt tries to forget about Blaine, he just keeps coming back into his life, over and over, doesn't he?

"Whoa. Hold up. Like, a million awesome gay jokes just popped into my head."

Kurt turned to give Santana a look, but he doesn't really have the focus to be angry with her right now. All he can think about is how much he really misses Blaine.

_Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to find him again._

He doesn't want to get his hopes up, but he also can't help but have his imagination run wild, coming up with a thousand dramatic scenarios of finding each other again.

"Uh, dude? Why don't you make yourself useful and go put some rat poison in them old folk's Jell-o, or... visit the Garglers," Puck suggested with a shrug.

"The _Warblers_," Kurt corrected.

"Whatever."

A beat.

"Fine."

Kurt ignored the shocked looks on his teammates faces as he grabbed his presentation board and left the room. They wanted him to go spy on the competition? Fine. He could use some new friends anyway. Well, old friends. Old friend. Whatever.

Kurt drove home, attempting to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. Finn was still at the school—oops. Kurt had been his ride home—and his dad and Carole were both at work. Kurt had the house to himself as he went down to his room and pulled up the Dalton Academy website on his laptop. He found that the school had a uniform, and he went to his vast closet to attempt to match it.

It wasn't perfect, but it'd have to do. He only prayed that no one would notice, or at least care. He grabbed his bag so that he would look less suspicious, and headed out the door.

Thank God for GPS. Kurt's iPhone was the only thing that kept him from getting hopelessly lost on his way to Dalton.

To Blaine.

No, to Dalton.

Okay, he could do this. No, no he couldn't. Kurt put his car back into drive and prepared to pull out of the lot.

_This could be your last chance for a long time. Plus, you're already here, if you back out now, that gas would've been wasted, and your dad will kill you, because he pays for that._

Damn his conscience and it's logic.

Sighing, Kurt shut his car off and climbed out. He looked up at the building, which looked more like a Victorian mansion than a school. Taking a deep breath, he headed in, and was astounded by the interior. As soon as he walked in, he felt transported back one hundred and fifty years.

Kurt spent time wandering through the halls, up some stairs, when suddenly, students began pouring from every door surrounding him. A little shocked, he followed the crowd, who were moving surprisingly quickly for a change in classes. He followed the crowd, who led him to an elegant spiral staircase. Suddenly realizing how suspicious he looked with his sunglasses still perched on his nose, he pulled them off.

Completely and utterly lost and confused, Kurt decided it wouldn't hurt to ask for help. A young man passed him then, and Kurt called out to him.

"Um, excuse me," the boy looked up. His eyes connected with Kurts. "Um..."

Oh.

My.

God.

It was Blaine, oh my god, it was Blaine he was standing there looking at him expectantly with those beautiful, familiar green eyes and Kurt just didn't know what to _do_ so apparently his body decided to shut down.

"Well, Kurt, as much as I enjoy standing in the hall gaping at each other like fish on land, I actually have somewhere very important to be." Blaine looked down at his watch. "Ah, but see, now I am late. However, I know a short cut if you care to join me," he looked back up.

"Uh..." was all that came out of Kurt's mouth once more. Nice, Hummel. Real smooth.

But then Blaine smiled at him and it was as if the sun was breaking the horizon. Everything felt warm as Blaine took his hand in his and pulled him down the rest of the stairs and through the corridor. Kurt put his memory to the test as he attempted to remember everything about this moment. How his heart was racing, how even after nearly two years, he still knew that Blaine would be wearing a knowing smirk where Kurt couldn't see his face, how perfectly Blaine's hand fit in his. Hell, twenty years from now, he'd still be able to tell you that there was a huge, framed portrait of Marie Antoinette hanging on the wall.

They came into what looked like a living room, probably a common room, only there were students clearing the furniture to the walls.

"Oh, I stick out like a sore thumb," Kurt said nervously, looking at all of the students in uniform. Blaine smiled again, then smoothed down the lapel of his jacket—which Kurt knew was perfect, anyway.

"Well don't forget your jacket next time, new kid," Blaine said and _winked_. Kurt blushed, his brain turning to mush as Blaine backed away. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

XOXOX

Kurt sipped at his peppermint mocha carefully. He allowed his eyes to flick over to the counter, where Blaine was picking up a few packets of sugar. He quickly averted his gaze when he turned around.

"So," Blaine dropped back into the chair across from Kurt's. "What is new in the fabulous life of Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt snorted. "It's not so fabulous right now." Blaine looked at him curiously. "Never mind. Forget I said that." Kurt retreated quickly.

"No, Kurt, don't be like that," Blaine's hazel eyes bore into his. Kurt didn't miss the way the other boy's hand reached out to him slightly, before returning to his coffee cup. "Tell me what's going on."

Kurt sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are... are you still gay?" Kurt hoped, prayed, that Blaine would understand. Blaine nodded, and relief washed over him. "I'm the only 'out' kid at McKinley, and there's this one neanderthal who's made it his life's goal to make me miserable," Kurt took a shaky breath and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be dumping this on you after avoiding you for so long."

"Kurt, you're fine. Listen, I don't care right now that I haven't seen you for a while. You're here now and you need help." Blaine tried to catch his eye. "Let me help you."

"O-okay."

"And look, I don't have a step-by-step Defeat the Bullies book, but I can tell you that I feel terrible for leaving you behind to face that. Dalton has a zero-tolerance bullying policy, and it's kept my safe for the past few years.

"I ran, Kurt. And it's something that I really, really regret."

"You didn't run, Blaine. If I remember correctly, your parents made you transfer." Kurt replied, taking a sip of his coffee.

"But I could have fought so much harder."

A moment of silence passed, and it wasn't comfortable or uncomfortable. It was just... silent.

"Prejudice is just ignorance, Kurt. And you don't have to stand for it."

XOXOX

Kurt did his best to follow Blaine's advice. To have courage, like his text said. But it didn't end up well. He just found out that his biggest tormentor was stuck in Narnia.

He felt violated.

He felt used.

And now he was laying in the middle of his bed, staring at the ceiling, unsure what to do with himself. He'd already brushed his teeth fifteen times, showered, and changed his clothes, but he still felt _dirty_. There was a soft knock on his door.

"It's open," he croaked, voice scratchy from crying.

The door squeaked open, then clicked shut. Soft footsteps carried down the stairs, and the bed dipped next to Kurt's side. Kurt looked over to find Blaine there, blazer unbuttoned and tie a little loose. A hand reached up to push Kurt's bangs out of his face, and Kurt nearly began crying all over again.

"What happened?" Blaine's voice was quiet and a little hesitant. Kurt sighed, pulling himself into a sitting position. He leaned back against his pillows and headboard. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Hey, it's okay. Take your time." Blaine moved up next to Kurt, nudging his shoulder. "Shove up."

Kurt leaned forward, and Blaine settled himself behind him. When Kurt leaned back, his head was resting against Blaine's collar bone.

"Whenever you're ready," Blaine whispered into his hair.

A few minutes of silence passed, Blaine running his fingers through Kurt's hair comfortingly. Kurt surprised himself with how okay he was with it, given how much time they had spent apart.

"He kissed me," Kurt whispered. Blaine stiffened.

"_Kissed_ you?"

"He just grabbed my face and kissed me. And then he tried to kiss me again, but I pushed him away. So he punched a locker and ran out." Kurt tearing up again, and he turned his face into Blaine's chest. And god _damn_ if he didn't smell like everything Kurt needed in that moment. Comforting, familiar.

Like home.

So Kurt cried harder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was so stupid, I—I—" Kurt stammered.

"What? Kurt, no. None of this is your fault. It's not your fault he's confused, and it's—"

"No, not Dave. God, Blaine, I'm so sorry," Kurt sobbed into his friends shirt. "I'm sorry I was stupid, and jealous, and—"

"Kurt. Look at me."

Kurt blinked up at him through misty eyes.

"I'm fine. We can talk about what happened between us later. But right now, let's focus on making you feel better. On helping you, okay?" Blaine ran his finger's through Kurt's hair again. Kurt swallowed.

"Okay."

Kurt laid his head down on Blaine's chest again, taking a few deep breaths to help calm down. A water bottle appeared in Blaine's hand, and Kurt recognized it as the one that he kept on his nightstand. He mumbled a thanks, taking a sip. Blaine responded with a hum, hand running up and down Kurt's spine.

"Would you like me to go with you to talk to him?" Blaine asked suddenly.

"W-what?" Kurt looked up at him in shock.

"I'll go talk to Dave with you tomorrow at your school."

"You would do that?" Kurt asked quietly, looking up at him.

"Of course."

Then Blaine smiled at him, that smile that was like the sun breaking over the horizon, and for the first time in quite a while, Kurt felt like things were going to be okay.

Kurt rested his head back down and closed his eyes.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I'd like that."

* * *

_Yeah. So I'll be back in a while._

_Love, Live, Sing,_

_Sydni Maxine_


	13. Eleventh Grade Winter Trimester

**AN:** _Here, have a long chapter._

* * *

Kurt and Blaine went back to generally the way they were before. It took some time, but they found very quickly that they were still comfortable with each other. They spent a lot of time together, seeing bad movies, analyzing Vogue, and sometimes, just simply _being_. They spent many a weekend in his room or Blaine's, doing absolutely nothing. Sometimes Blaine had his guitar or piano out while Kurt doodled in his sketchbook.

The first night Kurt had hung about at Blaine's house was when Blaine was bored of babysitting alone. His parents were at some dinner party or another, and Addison was getting whiny. So Kurt came over and saved the day, bearing a multitude of tiaras and dressing up the little girl at the princess she was. After a long night of hard-core playing, the five year-old fell asleep on the living room carpet, crayon in hand. Smiling, Blaine picked her up and carried her to her room.

He laid her in her bed and slipped of the plastic heels that she insisted on wearing even after she put on her pajamas.

"B-Blaine?" she mumbled, stirring.

"Shh, go back to sleep."

"Blaine?"

"What, honey?"

"One day, I wanna... I wanna marry Kurt."

Blaine smiled as she rolled onto her stomach, mouth hanging open and asleep once more.

When he returned to the living room. Kurt had already cleaned up the crayons and was nearly asleep on the sofa. His eyes opened when he heard the stairs creak.

"You might want to get your wedding magazines back out," Blaine commented, elaborating at Kurt's confused look. "She's prepared to propose."

Kurt snorted and pulled himself into a sitting position against the arm of the couch. "There are so many things wrong with that I don't even know where to begin."

Blaine sat down on the other end of the sofa, taking in his friends tired form. It was almost ten thirty—way past Addison's bed time, but what their parents didn't know wouldn't kill them—and Kurt looked worn out. So Blaine really didn't want to bring up what he'd been meaning to ask, but he really wanted to know, so—

"Hey, Kurt?"

"Mm?" Kurt looked up at him.

"Do you think, well, would you mind telling me what exactly happened between us? I never really got the story." Kurt bit his lip and shifted uncomfortably.

"It's—It's honestly really stupid, and I really regret doing it now. I was just so confused and if I'm being honest I was jealous, and—"

"Whoa," Blaine cut him off. "Start from the beginning." Kurt took a deep breath and started over.

"Back during Freshman year, when you told me that you l-liked me," Kurt swallowed, eyes casting downward, "I wasn't really sure how I felt. I-I think I liked you, too, but I also didn't really _want _to like you because you lived so far away, and I didn't want things to ever be awkward between us," he glanced up at Blaine, who's expression was unreadable, and looked away again.

"And then I found out through Facebook that you got a boyfriend, and I was hurt that you didn't tell me, and I was confused," Kurt put his face in his hands.

"Wait, what?" Blaine asked, sounding bewildered. "Got a—Oh! Oh, God, Kurt, no. No, it wasn't like that, you misunderstood."

Kurt looked up from his hands, taking his turn at being the confused one.

"David hacked into my computer and changed my relationship status to mess with me. I got my ear chewed off by my mom, and I had no idea what was going on. I remember trying to tell you, but your number didn't work."

Kurt gaped at him.

"David—hacked—changed...Ugh!" Kurt flopped backwards, sliding down the couch so his head rested on the arm. He covered his face with his hands again. "So the whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms out again.

"Shh," Blaine quieted him with a chuckle, not wanting to wake his sister. "Yeah, it was."

"Ugh," Kurt groaned again. Blaine picked up one of his feet and began to rub it.

"Look, Kurt, it's behind us now. I'm not mad, I get it. Things were getting a little strained between us anyway," Blaine said.

"Mmkay," Kurt sighed, eyes falling closed again.

They heard the front door open then, and the sound of coats being hung up and footsteps nearing them.

"Hey, who—Kurt!" Lori exclaimed, practically yanking Kurt to his feet and crushing him in a hug.

"Oh, h-hi Lori," Kurt stuttered, attempting to regain his footing.

"Jeez, mom, don't kill him," Blaine commented from the couch.

"Oh, darling, it's so good to see you again," Mrs. Anderson commented pulling Kurt back you look at him. "You know just the other day I was working on this design and—"

"Honey, let the poor kid breathe," Michael Anderson laughed, appearing behind his wife's shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, dropping her hands. After a moment though, she flailed them and hugged him again. "I'm just so happy to see you."

"It's good to see you too," Kurt laughed, hugging her back. "But it's getting late, I should probably head home," he said, reaching for his bag.

"Oh, nonsense, honey, you look exhausted. Just spend the night."

"Uh.." Kurt looked to Blaine, who shrugged. "Alright, that sounds wonderful." Kurt smiled.

"Marvelous," Mrs. Anderson said, clapping her hands together. "I'm going to go check on Addison. Can I trust you to be a good host, Blaine?" she have her son a skeptical look.

"I learned from only the best," Blaine replied with a smile.

"Oh, you're an angel." Lori kissed his forehead and left the room. Blaine picked up Kurt's bag.

"Come on, let's get you settled in before she decides to smother you again."

XOXOX

Lorelle was thrilled to have Kurt around again, especially now that he was old enough to work for her. He mostly answered the phone, scheduled appointments, faxed and filed papers, but he did a share of designing as well. Plus, he got a discount when he ordered fabric for himself, since he would do so through Lori's company. One of his favorite things to make were dresses for Addison. The little girl had dozens of them, and wore them all the time. From beach dresses to tiny wedding gowns, the girl was set.

Then Kurt was invited to the company's family-friendly Holiday party, and Addison bounded into Blaine's room where the two had been watching America's Next Top Model. The small girl threw herself onto Kurt's lap, holding a magazine up to his face.

"Kuuuurt! Will you make me this for the party, pleeeeaaaase?" she asked, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout—something she'd learned from Blaine.

"Well hello to you, too," Kurt said, taking the magazine from her hands. "You're sure this is the one you want?" he asked. She nodded.

"But I want it shorter, so that I can run around without ripping it."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Kurt replied, and she squealed in excitement.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Addison placed a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek before running from the room, screaming, "Mommy! She said he'd make it for me!"

"Man, can we just steal some of her energy?" Blaine asked, looking at the door his sister had just left through.

"I wish," Kurt sighed. "What are you wearing?"

"To the party?" Blaine asked. "It's nothing special. Mom made it for me when they started planning it."

Blaine got up and moved to his closed, rifling through it before pulling out a garment bag. He laid it on his bed, unzipping it and pulling the suit out.

Kurt jumped up from the couch, looking at the jacket in awe and running his fingers down the sleeve. It was a light gray, and Kurt could tell that it was impeccably tailored without even seeing it on him.

"You're mother's a genius," Kurt commented while Blaine put the suit away.

"That's what people say," Blaine shrugged. "What about you?"

"I'm just going with simple black. I don't want to push it with these employers I've never met before." Kurt said, looking only slightly upset.

"What, no sequined suit jacket?" Blaine teased. Kurt glared at him.

"Don't tempt me, Anderson."

XOXOX

The day of the party came, and Kurt was freaking out. He had his suit, his shoes, his hair products, his facial creams, everything he needed, and was camped out in Blaine's bathroom. Why was he freaking out, though? Because he was about to go meet his employers at a classy party, and all he could think about was spilling something on himself, or someone else, and making a fool out of himself. Kurt and Lori worked from the Anderson's home, so Kurt had only spoken to a few of these people over the phone.

There was a knock on the door.

"Kurt? I need my hair gel."

"Come in," he called, not looking away from his nervous reflection. The door opened, and Blaine stepped in, shirt tucked in, but missing the jacket and tie.

"You look great," Blaine said, and Kurt finally looked at him as he reached for the gel.

"Th-thanks," Kurt stuttered.

"You okay?" Blaine asked.

"Just nervous. Don't judge me," Kurt said worriedly, bracing his hands on his knees.

"I'm not," Blaine said. "Look, I've met these people a hundred times, you have no reason to worry. They're going to love you."

"How can you be so sure?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"Have you met yourself? You're the single most interesting kid in all of Ohio. Now come on, you can do my hair."

"You certainly know how to woo a man."

XOXOX

Okay, so this party was nothing like Kurt was expecting. Sure it was held at a classy country club and everyone was dressed to the nines, but they weren't acting like it. Everyone was laughing loudly, their children running rampant. Games of pool were being bet on and played, and there was alcohol in the possession of everyone over twenty-one.

When Kurt was introduced to the CEO of the company, the man clapped him on the shoulder and joked that he worried Kurt might end up stealing his job from the praise Lori always gave him.

There was a stage with a microphone, where one of the committee members would occasionally give away a prize by raffle. Kurt was sitting with Blaine at one of the dining tables when Addison bounded onto the stage in her little red dress, taking the microphone off it's stand and holding it to her face.

"Hi everyone!" she said, waving to the crowd. The room quieted and turned to watch her. "My name's Addison Anderson, and I really want to play that piano," she pointed to the upright in the corner of the platform. "So I'm going to play Jingle Bells for you, like my big brother Blaine taught me," Addison pointed to Blaine where he sat, and there was a chorus of 'aww's.

Addison skipped over to the piano and used one finger to play, singing into the mic, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jin...gle all the way. Oh what fun it is...to ride in a one-horse, open sleigh!"

The crowd burst into applause, and she jumped from the piano stool and ran to bury her face in her dad's pant leg. The room quieted again, and a lady asked, "Will Blaine play again for us this year? He was just wonderful last time."

"No, I couldn't," Blaine politely declined.

"C'mon, boy!"

"Please, Blaine?"

"It was the highlight of the evening last year!"

Kurt laughed. "Go, do it," he encouraged. Blaine gave him a look before standing up and holding out his hand.

"Only if you do it with me."

Flushing immediately, Kurt shook his head, and mouthed 'no no no no no' at his friend.

"Kurt! Kurt! Kurt! Kurt! Kurt!" the party began chanting. And Blaine was standing there expectantly with his stupid smile, and how the hell could Kurt say no?

Rolling his eyes, he stood up and followed Blaine to the piano, seating himself on the bench next to him as Blaine began to play.

"Really?" he hissed, disproving of the song choice, but Blaine just smiled, and he was forced to go along with it.

_I really can't stay..._

_ But baby, it's cold outside._

_ I've got to go away..._

_ But baby it's cold outside._

_ This evening has been so very nice._

_ I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice._

They sang the entire song, Kurt blushing profusely at _gosh your lips look delicious_. The pair harmonized the last note beautifully, and their audience applauded as though they'd never heard music before.

"See, I told you you had nothing to worry about," Blaine whispered as they gave small bows and moved offstage. They went out through some glass doors onto a balcony, the cool air soothing Kurt's flushed skin.

"Alright Mr. Anderson, what would you like for being right?" Kurt asked sarcastically. Blaine glanced above them and smiled.

"A mistletoe kiss?"

Shocked, Kurt looked up at the door frame, where there was, indeed, a cluster of mistletoe hanging. Butterflies erupting in his stomach, Kurt looked back at Blaine, who was suddenly standing much, much closer to him than before. Blaine searched his eyes for a moment, before leaning in and pressing his lips to Kurt's.

It was short, warm, and very sweet. When Blaine pulled back he was smiling, then turned to the railing and looked up at the stars.

"Look, you can see Aries."

* * *

_;)_

_Also, if you go over to scarvesandcoffee(.net) and view this chapter there, the kid's party outfits are linked within the text. FanFic wouldn't let me do that, though. _


	14. Eleventh Grade Spring Trimester

_For Pukingranebows_

* * *

Kurt and Blaine were not together. In fact, the kiss at the Christmas party seemed to roll right off of Blaine, and it was never mentioned again. Not even after Blaine got hammered at Santana's house on New Year's Eve and spent the whole ride back to Kurt's house singing _Part of Your World _loudly and very off key. He'd cuddled up to Kurt in his bed at the end of then night, mumbling, "Kurt. Kurty Kurt Kurt. I wan' you t' be my-my Ariel," and promptly fell asleep.

It was now March, and Kurt was getting snippy with the slush outside and the dirty, wet socks Finn left in the hallway. It was a Wednesday afternoon when he snapped.

Kurt had two tests the next day in his worst subjects, he'd woken up late, and the hockey team had decided that today was a good day to mass-attack him with slushies. After all of this, Blaine had still insisted on coming over, which wouldn't have been too bad if Blaine wasn't sitting there, playing his harmonica and being all beautifully _distracting_ while Kurt was trying to study.

"Knock it off," Kurt snapped, and the music promptly stopped, Blaine looking up at him in confusion. "I can't concentrate when you're doing that."

"Do you need help?" Blaine asked, hopping up onto Kurt's bed like a god damn puppy. "Oh! I did this last year!" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Of course you did," he grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're God damn Blaine Anderson, everyone's favorite, unofficial leader of the Warbler's, straight-A student, and overly adorable in that stupid blazer."

There was a moment of silence while Blaine stared at him in shock. Kurt immediately felt guilty—Blaine hadn't done anything wrong—but he couldn't find the words to apologize, he just blushed furiously and continued scribbling out his homework.

"Well first of all, I'm not a straight-A student," Blaine said. "I totally failed Biology. And secondly," Blaine paused. "You love the blazer," he said in a deep voice.

Kurt huffed in annoyance. Rationally, he knew that Blaine was probably just trying to lighten the mood, but for some reason Kurt was feeling pissy.

"I think you should leave," he said, not looking up from his work.

"What—"

"Just go."

Blaine sat for a moment, stunned, then slowly got up, gathered his things, and left the room. He took one last look at his best friend, who hadn't even looked up, before closing the door softly behind him.

XOXOX

Blaine was nervous about that night. Friday was the night that he always spent with Kurt. Whether they were babysitting Addison, or seeing a movie, or analyzing Vogue in Kurt's bedroom. But they hadn't spoken since Wednesday, and Blaine didn't know if he should try to call him, or text him, or what.

So to say he was surprised to walk into his bedroom after classes that afternoon to find Kurt sitting on his bed was an understatement. He was leaning against the headboard, his bag on the bed next to him, and looked up when Blaine entered the room.

"Hi," he said quietly, and Blaine didn't miss the way his cheeks tinged a light pink as he looked back down at his hands. Blaine closed the door, dropped his bag to the ground, and sat at the foot of the bed.

"Hey," he said just as softly.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you the other day," Kurt said, looking up. Blaine smiled a little.

"I get it. You were stressed out and I was there. I'm not mad at you."

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled, his eyes casting down.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Kurt was silent. He looked up and tried to say something, but no words came out.

"Hey, in your own time," Blaine soothed, placing his hand on Kurt's knee. Kurt took a deep breath and started over again.

"Blaine, what are we now?" he asked, voice only a little shaky.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked, dropping his hand to the matress.

"It's just... since we-we kissed at the Christmas party, I thought things were going to change, but they didn't. And I guess I'm okay with them not, but I just don't _understand_ and you're the most important person in my life, Blaine. I don't want to lose you again, but it feels like I'm going to because I don't know what's going on between us and I'm just so, so _confused_, and... and..." Oh, god, Kurt felt like he was going to throw up, like he was breathing but the oxygen just wasn't cooperating with his blood.

"Hey, hey," Blaine shushed. He moved closer to Kurt, who had his arms wrapped around his torso as if he was holding himself together. Blaine pushed Kurt's bangs away from his face. "Look, Kurt," he continued, dropping his hands to Kurt's arms. "What happened at the party was my fault. It was a spur of the moment thing, and god, Kurt, I don't regret it. I'd wanted to kiss you since you showed up on that staircase at Dalton, but after it happened I was so scared, Kurt. I was scared. I thought that... that I would screw this up somehow, and I'd lose you. And I was okay with keeping things the way they were because then you would never disappear from my life again."

And then Blaine didn't even have time to look away in embarrassment before Kurt was leaning toward him, grabbing his face and covering his mouth with his own.

This kiss wasn't like the one they shared at the party. No, that one was short and sweet. This one was harder, hungrier. Kurt's hands were on either side of his face, and his hands were tangled in Kurt's hair. And holy _hell_ that was Kurt's tongue licking at his upper lip right before he pulled away.

"You could never, ever screw this up," Kurt said, breath just as ragged as his own. Blaine smiled, and Kurt moved back. "I almost forgot," he cleared his throat. "I brought you something."

Kurt reached into his bag and pulled out a package of RedVines. Blaine's face lit up. Taking the candy from him, Blaine opened the bag, handing one to Kurt before taking a bite of his own. They chewed in silence for a moment before Kurt spoke up again.

"Okay, confession time," he said, laughter in his voice. Blaine smiled up at him. "These things are actually disgusting." Blaine laughed loudly, throwing his head back.

"They are, aren't they?" Blaine said, then proceeded practically throw himself at Kurt, wrapping his arms around the boy's torso and push him into a laying position.

They stayed like that for a long time, content to cuddle the afternoon away before Addison bounded into the room, holding up her case of Disney Princess dolls and saying, "Pleeeeeaaaaaase?"

XOXOX

When Kurt got home the next day, he began skipping around the living room, spinning in circles and belting A Dream Is a Wish Your Hear Makes. Finn picked up his bag of Doritos protectively while Burt laughed from where he sat in his chair.

"What's gotten into you, kiddo?"

"I'm in love!" Kurt exclaimed spinning around. "I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows it!" he spread his arms out wide, flinging his hat into the air.

"About time," Burt chuckled, turning back to the TV.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked, placing his hand on his hips.

"Kurt, there hasn't been a time since November when you've come back from bein' with Blaine and you haven't been on cloud nine. You don't think I notice these things, but I do." Kurt smiled. "And don't worry, he can still spend the night as long as you keep things PG. When there are other people in the house, at least."

"D-Dad!" Kurt spluttered, cheeks flaming, and Finn choked on a chip. Burt just laughed again.

XOXOX

"Dalton is too far away. Why are you so far away?"

"_I know. But I'm coming over after school tomorrow._"

"But that's nineteen hours away."

"_Somehow, I think you'll survive._"

"If I die before then you can put 'I told you so' on my gravestone."

"_I'll make a note of it._"

"Jerk."

"_You're adorable_."

"Shut up."

"_No way._"

"Will you bring over a scary movie? I'm in a scary movie mood."

"_You just want an excuse to cuddle me._"

"As if I need an excuse."

"_True, true._"

"You know I laugh the whole time anyway."

"_Of course you do. You just laughed so hard during _Quarantine _that you couldn't stop clinging to me the rest of the night."_

"That man shouldn't have been alive, Blaine. They drilled a hole in his _head._"

"_Alright, alright. Now go to sleep before you get nightmares._"

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

"_Goodnight, Kurt._"

"Goodnight, Blaine.

XOXOX

It was a Friday night in late April when he said it. In fact, he didn't even realize he had said it until he saw the way Kurt's head whipped up to look at him. But he didn't—wouldn't—take it back.

They had been sitting in Kurt's room, Blaine on the couch with his guitar, and Kurt laying on his stomach reading Entertainment Weekly.

"Ugh, why do people even still care about Brangelina? They're so 2005," he'd said. Blaine smiled. All he could think was how beautiful Kurt was, both inside and out, and how Blaine didn't want to miss a single moment of the rest of this boy's life. He wanted to be with him forever, to grow old with him, maybe adopt a child or surrogate. Or they didn't have to have any children at all, as long as they were together, as long as Kurt was still there, he would be okay.

"I love you," Blaine said, and he continued to strum softly. Kurt's head whipped up, looking at him with a mixture of shock and disbelief adorning his features before he grinned broadly.

"I love you, too."

Blaine set down his guitar and moved over to the bed. Kurt rolled over onto his back when Blaine climbed on top of him.

"Really?" he asked, forearms on either side of Kurt's head and knees bracketing his hips. Kurt smiled and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck.

"Really, really," Kurt replied, pulling his boyfriend down into a kiss.

* * *

_Dear lord, I think I need a dentist._


End file.
